ALAN MULGAN, 1881-1962

Turnbull Library Record, Volume XV, 1 November 1962, Page 12

ALAN MULGAN, 1881-1962

The many tributes that have been paid to Alan Mulgan need not here be repeated. But because he was a man of wide reading, sensitive perception and literary skill, and vividly alive to the forces at work in the society of his country as well as of the world, he was inevitably a user and appreciator of libraries. He was a frequent caller at the Turnbull when he was Supervisor of Talks in the Broadcasting Service, but his quests were as likely to be personal as official. They were usually recondite, puzzling, exacting, for they arose when his own individual knowledge failed him. In his retirement he often enquired by phone. A later day came when these queries took another turn. "Did we hold this, that or the other? Would we like so and so?” As he sorted through the accumulated letters, writings and notes of a busy life, he passed many useful items into the library. He was conscious of their fitness here, and also had a sense that, having been for several years President of the Friends of the Turnbull Library, it was incumbent upon him to manifest his interest in this way. Indeed, it was manifested in other ways, for he occasionally induced others to do likewise.

But, above all, he was a reader and user of books, as every reader of his "Cyrano" and other articles would know, and the fruit of his reading he passed on to the library in many a useful hint for the reference files.

He was a kindly, tolerant and good-humoured friend whose passing is yet another loss. To Mrs. Mulgan and his family our sympathy is extended.