Gerard Hoffnung
‘THE recent death of Gerard Hoffnung at a tragically early age will be mourned by many _ radio listeners.
Humour is so precious and rare a com. modity that we can ill spare one whose wit and satire expressed itself in so many fields-the cartoon, the outrageous musical festival, the printed word and the radio "interview." I still think that Hoffnung’s alleged interview on cinema-going is one of the funniest and most original things I have ever heard on radio. In him we have lost not only a humorist whose work always had a quality of grotesque fun which robbed it of any suspicion of malice, but also a potentially great radio figure. And he seems to have been one whom the Comic Muse touched very early. By pure coincidence, I came across the other week an old Lilliput (for January, 1942) which reproduced a "letter from a schoolboy," with margins adorned with clever, freakish cartoons and also printed five cartoons by the same schoolboy. The lad’s name was Gerard Hoffnung, and this must have been his first printed work, The authentic Hoffnung touch was already there, in the weirdly funny figures singing inappropriate songs into the microphone. His healthy spirit of mockery will be greatly missed from the air.
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https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/periodicals/NZLIST19591030.2.23.1.1
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New Zealand Listener, Volume 41, Issue 1053, 30 October 1959, Page 16
Word count
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211Gerard Hoffnung New Zealand Listener, Volume 41, Issue 1053, 30 October 1959, Page 16
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Copyright in the work University Entrance by Janet Frame (credited as J.F., 22 March 1946, page 18), is owned by the Janet Frame Literary Trust. The National Library has been granted permission to digitise this article and make it available online as part of this digitised version of the New Zealand Listener. You can search, browse, and print this article for research and personal study only. Permission must be obtained from the Janet Frame Literary Trust for any other use.
Copyright in the Denis Glover serial Hot Water Sailor published in 1959 is owned by Pia Glover. The National Library has been granted permission to digitise this serial and make it available online as part of this digitised version of the Listener. You can search, browse, and print this serial for research and personal study only. Permission must be obtained from Pia Glover for any other use.
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