PROFILES BY JOHN PASCOE

New Zealand Listener, Volume 41, Issue 1054, 6 November 1959, Page 20

PROFILES BY JOHN PASCOE

SERIES of profiles of New Zea-landers-by one of the best-known profiles inthe country, John Pascoewill start from 1YC and 3YC next week (1YC, -Tuesday, November 10, 10.45 p.m.; 3YC, November 12, 10.38 p.m.). Of the five Néw Zealanders selected by Mr Pascoe, four are still alive, and at the height of theit powers’ in the various fields they have made their own. All of the five have authorship in common, and a further link between four of them is Mr Pascoe’s own preoccupation, mountaineering. . First on the list is Sir Edmund Hillary, whose dominant qualities (comments Mr Pascoe) are modesty and energy: "Ed was always a mass of energy. One of his best climbing mates, Earle Riddiford, recalled that he was more than usually restless when waiting for the weather to clear. While others were content to snore off. in their sleeping-bags, Ed made himself a bow and arrow from sub-alpine scrub and chased keas." The second profile is of the late General Sir Howard Kippenberger, whom Mr Pascoe served under as Illustrations Editor when "Kip" was Editor in Chief of N.Z. War Histories. He was the only man in the country, says Mr Pascoe, who combined all the qualities-of soldier, scholar, and administratorneeded for this job, and he "set to work with results that have proved the envy of other Commonwealth countries." John Pascoe’s third choice is one of these numerous-and somehow typical -New Zealanders who have done a little of everything. At present a Reuters chief in Tokyo, Syd Brookes at one time or another has been mountain -guide, journalist (he was a foundation member of The Listener staff), film director and wharfie, and member of the Fleet Air Arm. Nowadays, says Mr Pascoe, his letters tell "of the contradictions in Japanese character, of his solace in sail-

ing a small yacht alone and far from the sight of land, and gossip about the Japanese expeditions to Manaslu in the Himalaya." David Hall, the subject of Mr Pascoe’s fourth profile, is well known both as a mountaineer and as a critic. "His articulate poise as critic is as personal to him as his stance on a narrow rock ledge, with rope neatly coiled and a belay ancher for safety," says John Pascoe. The last talk in this series of profiles is on Dr J. C. Beaglehole. "The sum of his accomplishment as a writer of distinguished prose and history is well known," says Mr Pascoe. "His stimulus to the humanities in New Zealand is less evident but no less important. He is no ivory tower recluse but a resourceful fighter for his beliefs."