Reporter's Diary

Press, 28 November 1977, Page 2

Reporter's Diary

Relieved NOW that John McKinnon Donnelly has been returned to his coop, and his getaway car has been recovered, one of our reporters can stop looking furtive. The yellow Cortina which the police were seeking while the escaper was at large had exactly the same registration number, except for the last digit, as the reporter's yellow Escort. While Donnelly was missing, the reporter drove about certain that he could feel the hot breath of the law on the back of his neck. Action, too SOCIAL PLANNERS should be men and women of action — doers as well as thinkers — said Dr Robin Irvine. Vice-Chan-cellor of the University of Otago, in an address to social scientists last week. They should learn, he suggested, from the story of an owl and a grasshopper who were discussing things over a few drinks. The grasshopper asked the owl what he should do to cope with the problems of the approaching winter. The owl, determined to justify his reputation for wisdom, said “Well you just approach the problem from a logical basis and if you think about the members of the animal kingdom who best survive the winter, it is undoubtedly the

small furry creatures who hibernate. I think the solution to your problem is to turn yourself into a squirrel.” The grasshopper was very impressed by this logic, but thought he detected a snag. “How do I turn myself into a squirrel?” he asked. At this point the owl became a little more distant in his manner and, looking slightly reprovingly at the grasshopper, replied, “I’m afraid I haven't a clue, old boy — I only advise on policy.” Ao Maori tcriier THE LACK of a New Zealand Maori author among the delegates and observers to the 42nd international P.E.N. congress in Sydney next month is troubling the Australian organisers. The emergence of new literatures among the Pacific nations is one of two literary themes for the congress, to be held from December 11 to 17. “We were desperately keen that a Maori writer should attend, but our efforts have not been successful,'’ said Mrs Renata Cochrane, secretary of the Sydney P. E. N. Centre. An Aboriginal poet, Jack Davis, is among the guests of honour expected at the congress, and a Papua New Guinean poet, Russel Soaba will be an official guest. The New Zealand novelist, Janet Frame, is one of nine guests of honour, and the New Zealand delegates

will be the playwright, Bruce Mason, and the poet, Lauris Edmond. An Australian historian, Professor C. Manning Clark, will give the keynote address on the theme: “Literature, a bridge between Asian and European cultures.” P.E.N. centres are an association of poets, playwrights, essayists, editors, novelists and other writers whose charter says that literature, while national in origin, knows no frontiers. Members support the principle of unhampered transmission of thought within each nation and between all nations. London concert WILLIAM LANGFORD, a Christchurch pianist, will be the featured soloist in the first concert today by the Baroque Ensemble, formed in London to give New Zealand composers and young soloists a chance to establish themselves there. Mr Langford, who is 34, went to London on a Royal Schools scholarship in 1963 and studied at the Royal Academy of Music for four years. Two years ago he won a Gulbenkian Fellowship, and since then he has been studying with Louis Kentner. He has played for Radio New Zealand and 8.8. C. Radio. The concert will feature “Flute music for the Empress Theodora” by the violinist, William Cowdell, the New Zealand-born director of the ensemble. In future concerts the ensemble will play music by David Farquahar, professor of music at Victoria

University of Wellington, and Gillian Whitehead a New Zealander living in London. Profs pecked THE WAIKATO UniverStudents’ Union has appointed Lester Smith to be its first goose officer. Making the most of it, he says that although gaggleguarding is no giggle, he will not duck his responsibilities. The appointment was prompted by student concern at the fate of the various ducks and geese which live on the campus. Many end up in the pot, and their slaughtering is not always very professional. On October 16, half a dozen persons herded together the four campus geese and battered one to death with rocks and bits of wood. Earlier in the year, two gardeners dispatched another goose with a spade. One student admitted to the goose officer that he swatted a swan with a baseball bat because he wanted it for his tea. Ducks by the dozen have disappeared to provide Christmas dinners and “exotic Chinese dishes.” Goose Officer Smith fears that the university council plans to remove the geese, on the grounds that they have pursued and pecked professors- He has appealed to the council to give the birds full protection. Lent a hand

THE DAMAGING fire at the Corner Bookshop in Merivale brought out the best in the shop’s customers. Mr Joe Bercusson reports that lots of book-

lovers turned up unasked, armed with mops and buckets, as soon as they heard about the fire.

Axe throwers ANYONE planning to attend the Forest Fair at Ulong, near Coffs Harbour, in New South Wales, this summer would be well advised to stand well back. The featured event on January 14 is the world’s first axe-throwing championship. Ulong is a small timber village in the forested hills of the Eastern Dorrigo Plateau. Axe throwers from all over Australia are expected, plus a few from New Zealand, Canada, and the United States. Other country pursuits planned for the fair are a dampermaking contest, bushwalks, sheepskin tanning, eel-catching, a bush sawmill, and a working gold-stamper battery. Cast in the casts THE LUCK of the Irish does not seem to have rubbed off on the cast of the Irish comedy, “Happy as Larry,” which the St Christopher’s Drama Group is now performing in the church hall, Avonhead Road. One of the leprechauns in the play has his leg encased in plaster as the result of a ski-ing accident, and two other members of the cast are tending children in plaster casts thanks to other misadventures. But the play goes on, and the leprechaun will appear as a priest instead for the next performances on December 2 and 3. —Garry Arthur