Eulogy for Russell Pitt

Eulogy for Russell Pitt –given by John McIntyre on behalf of the NZ Book Trade – Ngaio Union Church, Wellington.   11am Wednesday 7^th January 2015.

Thank you Lionel for arranging this, and to Margaret, Andrew and David for allowing me to talk on behalf of the book trade about our friend Russell.

 He has been involved in books and with booksellers for very close to 50 years, longer than some of our younger colleagues have been alive, although sadly this is not a business full of young people these days.

As such too many of us are aware of our own mortality – some of us in much dodgier health than Russell. This has been a massive shock for all of us – we thought Russell was here for ever.

In preparing this eulogy I have had messages from people who go back right to when Russell started at AH & AW Reed.

Paul Greenberg, our other veteran rep who started at Reed a couple of years earlier, met him first when Russell  was a gofer  for the then manager Ray Richards and sales manager Tom Kennedy for a while before he started his career as a book rep.  Paul remembers even then Russell’s warmth of personality and sense of humour, for whom nothing was too much trouble, and Paul credits Tom Kennedy with instilling in Russell a loyalty to the company, its values and its history.

Paul wanted very much wanted to be here today, but his health prevents him from travelling at the moment.

John Ahradsen tells me the Reed offices then were then based in the building on the corner of Taranaki St and Wakefield St, opposite where Manthel Motors once stood, and the warehouse was in Ghuznee St, so clearly Russell needed to be both fit and eager.

Ann Mallinson was also involved in publishing in Wellington in those days, and remembers Russell fondly. In fact he was later to become her sales agent at Malllinson Rendel. Ann is in Tauranga this week, but sends her condolences.

Terry Toner, who worked with Russell at Reed Methuen remembers Russell and him counselling each other when times were tough at that company and they were both keen to move on – Terry went to Penguin, Russell to Becketts. Terry now lives in Winton in Southland.

The Wellington book trade is very close knit. Competitors cooperate with each other, we share information and pass customers on when we are unable to help, and we socialise together, often in each other’s homes. This collegiality is unique in New Zealand.  All of us know Russell though as our rep, our fellow rep, or as an integral member of our Wellington trade. We all loved him.

  Jo King of Macmillan Publishers admired his ability to remain cheerful and smiling through the toughest of times. That is special because often Russell was selling Macmillan books at prices Jo herself couldn’t match. Mind you, he sold most other publishers’ books at prices they couldn’t match either.

Jeanette Hayton, who worked for Reed in their later years and Dave MacKay of South Pacific Books both remember his warmth and kindness to his fellow reps, especially when times were tough.

Paul Greenberg and Russell would banter as to who was the first to sell books when Unity opened, and he loved the roadside chats where they would pick up the conversation where the last one had finished.

Russell clearly loved being a rep and he knew the books he sold for Beckett’s weren’t high literature.

Tilly Lloyd says one thing she really admired about Russell was his equanimity about the Beckett remainder list. He knew there was gold in the Beckett tailings, and for many bookshops there was a lot of gold. But he also knew that Unity Books Wellington created enough of their own (heavily curated) mistakes and they liked to showcase them in their chokka-block sale bin outside. 

He understood. Russell always understood. But he still called by on the just-in-case, because they were part of each other’s extended family and because he knew they loved him. He would stride in with his sample bag and his wonderful open face and be a figure of fitness and optimism. He would haul out his samples and after the usual string of declines he would say ‘yes but what about these Spitfire manuals. Even a bunch of toffs like you could move a pile of these’. His affectionate deprecations were an art form.

You are right Tilly - he understood in which shops his books weren’t big sellers all right– but he also understood that the small stores in the small towns often sold more Thomas the Tank Engine playsets than The Luminaries, and that there is good money to be had in the hinterland. He also understood that having samples of the books helped sell more books. Not many publishing companies bother with samples any more, to their cost.

There are a number of booksellers who have had 40-year relationships with Russell – starting with his time at Reed. Many of them are in those rural areas where he mined for his gold.

Jeff Grigor of Chapter and Verse in Timaru regarded Russell as the ideal professional rep – prompt, knowledgeable and never pushy.

You may note Timaru was part of Russell’s territory, and all points north and west of there as well – he had a mammoth territory and there have been tributes posted from booksellers in Wairoa and Foxton – towns that most reps blow by on their way to their company’s next big account. For Russell though these weren’t towns to be viewed in the rear vision mirror - he stopped and had a coffee and a chat, and he sold books.

Russell Carthew of Pahiatua and more recently Masterton Paper Plus goes right back to Russell’s early days with Reed.  Reed had an amazing list then and it was a dream time for selling NZ books. Russell excelled. He seemed to have a photographic memory and could walk around their shop and tell them what they were out of, in the days before computers. He had about 5 plastic folders and the two would flip through these and the order always seemed to be at least 100 books. Russell Carthew’s father was still involved in the business at that time and he could be a little daunting for younger reps, but he and Russell got on extremely well.

With Russell Carthew and Russell Pitt sharing the same name, when Russell called he would always say MISTER Carthew - it’s Russell here to avoid confusion. They often talked about who was going to retire first and Mister Carthew always said ‘I’m older than you so when I’m ready I will retire first’. Russell Pitt would often roll up his sleeves and help out if they were busy in the store unpacking stock.

Jo McColl of Unity Wellington and later Unity Auckland also experienced that helpfulness when Russell called into the Wellington store one day just as a wall behind it collapsed and mud and rock burst into the shop. Russell stopped selling and grabbed a shovel.

Jo McColl remembers the Reed list well too.  Reed’s reps had real clout back then with a seriously good booklist – Jo describes it as carrying the equivalent of the best natural history from Craig Potton along with the cream of Otago University Press non-fiction and Penguin’s history lists - packaged  with the intellectual brilliance of Bridget Williams Books and the passion of VUP. Russell had their attention and especially that of Alan Preston, the owner of Unity Books. After the Reed list was dispensed with, the two would disappear upstairs and talk for hours. Alan & Russell were two of a kind - knowledgeable about almost everything that mattered, truly interested in everybody they met and real gentlemen always. Jo has had more chances than many to observe this – she is also Russell’s sister-in-law.

Tilly Lloyd remembers Russell’s compassion and spiritual strength when Alan Preston died 10 years ago.

Russell was a spiritual man and clearly both strong and comfortable in his faith. He often mentioned to us his leadership role in this church, and he was proud of it. He wore it lightly though, preferring to live a good and happy life with friends of all persuasions. He didn’t drink, which is remarkable given the trade he was in, but he sure knew how to laugh. Often it was at his own jokes, but the good humour and constant optimism was infectious. Russell made everyone feel good.

Murray Pillar of Millwood Gallery makes another point. Russell always wore a tie – winter and summer.  Murray is probably the most sartorial bookseller in the world today, so he notices these things.  With Russell it might have been the same tie, but it was about standards, and they still mattered to him.

He and Anna Hunt of Marsden Books shared a love of choral music, and Russell went to one of her choir’s concerts. Jacqui Brokenshaw and Russell danced and sang vaudeville in the middle of Paper Plus Kilbirnie.

There does seem to be a trend emerging here though – that Russell always knew where the good coffee and the good company was – and that sales calls were only the entree to the important part – hanging out with his friends and enjoying himself. Books were just an excuse.

We all loved him because he sold them to us, but mostly we loved him because of his sunny nature, delightful laugh and easy going style.

Ruth and I loved his visits for that reason too. He would often call by on the off-chance, and we’d be adamant we didn’t need anything this trip, but yes we would look at his new books, so we could have a catch-up and a coffee. He’d drag his three or four battered crates in on his trusty trolley, sit there quietly going through the samples, laughing as we told him how bad most of them were, and we’d order a couple of items – only a couple mind you. And then we’d look down at his order pad, and see we’d actually ordered quite a few, a fact confirmed when 11 boxes would arrive from Becketts three days later.

Peter Rigg of Page and Blackmore in Nelson says exactly the same thing – there was that magic figure of anything over $200 being freight free – and bang, Russell had got us all again. The total could soon be 3 or 4 times but none of us minded - Russell always gave a bit extra discount, the deals were always great for  profit margin, and they all sold well and anyway, we loved having Russell visit.

Russell has called on our shop for the full 23 years we have been in business. In our very earliest days Beckett’s were also briefly the sales agents for Ashton Scholastic.

Trinette Gray of Paper Plus in Kilbirnie loved Russell’s ability to do deals, and Russell loved doing them.  At one family barbecue he tried to unload a shipment of parallel imported cheap copies of Mr Pip overstocks to Jo, his sister-in-law.

But this can’t be all about Russell – it is about Margaret too. Russell travelled widely and was away from home often and, in the not-so-distant days before cell-phones and emails she must have had to handle many enquiries. Margaret has delivered us books, and worked as a bookseller herself.

Many of us celebrated Russell’s 65^th birthday in 2013 with him and Margaret in the sun on the deck at their home in Bankot Crescent.

They were both very hospitable hosts, and Macmillan rep Jo King recalls another afternoon at their home 5 or 6 years earlier, I think celebrating his 40 years in the trade, when the weather wasn’t quite so balmy. It was a freezing Wellington day, and everyone stayed in the house and watched through the windows as Russell in his wet weather gear coaxed his barbecue into life. He was holding an umbrella to ward off the rain and a sheet to block the wind whilst flipping chops and sausages and gesturing for people to come out and collect the food. Some of us bravely took 5 minute shifts to keep him company, but he must have spent over an hour outside. Pitt of the Antarctic.

On these and other social occasions Russell had a party trick where he would calculate the respective years of book trade experience of the people at the table to see if came near  his and Paul Greenberg’s combined total.  It seldom did.

Perry Lennon of Dymocks in Parramatta in Sydney was called on by Russell during his 17 years with London Bookshops in the 1970s and 80s.  He says Russell was the ultimate professional who demonstrated an extraordinary sense of commitment to both his employers and his customers and was an absolute joy to do business with.

Perry is also perhaps the only bookseller to ever see Russell disgruntled or distressed. That was when his car was downsized following the oil crisis in the mid 70s and he did not know how he would cope with the country trips in a four-cylinder car!

Russell Carthew says that in his 50-plus years of retailing Russell stands out as the best, an absolutely amazing person, exceptionally good at his job, who you could always rely on 100%, someone with high ethics, morals and Christian beliefs and who was an inspiration to us all.

The Templetons of Piccadilly Books in Christchurch will miss greatly one of nature’s real gentlemen whom they appreciated for his integrity and goodwill.  They remember him as a man without one ounce of arrogance, self-effacing, but who always commanded respect for his sunny outlook on life, his lack of guile, his decency and his warm regard for people.

Paul Greenberg regarded him as our “visi-vest” – instantly recognisable and utterly dependable.

Paul also wants us to know that in Russell’s talent box was the ability to do a perfect take-off of Sam Hunt.

If I could find one I’d finish with an apposite quote from one of Sam’s poems, but it is a Joni Mitchell line that’s been in my head this past week –the one that goes -“You don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone”.

To Margaret, Andrew, David and your family -may your faith keep you strong and your friends keep you close.

It has been a privilege for me to receive these wonderful memories and a huge honour to speak about Russell. Please know that there are many people in Russell’s bookselling whanau hurting for you, but hurting too because they absolutely and genuinely loved him. We all wish we’d told him that, but we also hope he knew. Thank you.