This Was Then : A Memoir with Poems

Memoir (&Poems) of a Curious Curator.

Ian Rockels bohemian days in the 1960s Wellington are one of many highlightsin this book dreaming away days in the Parliamentary Library, vivid encounterswith literary luminaries, hippies who danced in the bath, and a flatmate soshort of clothing that on laundry day she had nothing more, so spent drying timeas a model for the drawing club.

The young Ian Rockel was on a road punctuated by pitfalls and traumas; its atribute to his skills as a memoirist that he recounts his brushes with death, bizarrecharacters, mental meltdowns and the paranormal with such a wry touch and anentertaining flair.

Born in 1939, Ians career spans teacher, museumcurator, editor, librarian, historian and poet. As Director of the Rotorua Museum he contributed to oral history in radio, TV and publications such as the chapter Te Arawa, for Alister Taylors quintessential Goldie; essays in Rotorua 18801990; and as principal editor of Tarawera Eruption Centennial. Ian also wrote Taking the Waters, ahistory of spas in New Zealand.

His experiences are the wellspring for his poetry; following his fifty poems in fifty years What Know You, Stars?, this memoir is garnished with another rich and comprehensive selection of his work.

Featured in the 30 April 2019 New Zealand newsletter.
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