Leading Men - Graeme Lay and Thom Conroy
Gallipoli & Other Stories : Peter Fitzsimons
A Law Legend: Sir Peter Williams, QC.
So many people turned up this morning to hear what is almost certainly Sir Peter Williams' last public address that organisers had to switch him to the largest venue in the Aotea Center, the ASB Theatre.
He didn't let his many admirers down with a very witty but thoughtful conversation with Bill Ralston based largely around the stories in his book, Peter Williams:The Dwarf Who Moved.
Subjects covered included prison reform and in particular the need for a reduction in the number of persons being sent to prison, jury selection, the need for fairness in all aspects of the justice system, his early days as a lawyer, personalities he has known and admired, famous cases such as the Arthur Allan Thomas affair and others.
He received a standing ovation at the end of the session.
Leading Men
Novelists Graeme Lay and Thom Conroy have written about two figures in New Zealand’s colonial past: Captain James Cook, the inspiration for Lay’s recently completed fictional trilogy; and Ernst Dieffenbach, the free-spirited German appointed as surgeon and naturalist on the New Zealand Company’s ship “Tory”, who is at the heart of Conroy’s novel The Naturalist.
The two writers discussed their leading men and the process of mutating fact into fiction under the skilful chairmanship of Catriona Ferguson.
I found this session absolutely fascinating particularly hearing how they came to "know" and "admire" their subjects.
Gallipoli & Other stories: Peter FitzsimonsThis guy is a truly amazing and most entertaining speaker/story teller for whom I have great admiration. That he ae almost filled the ASB Theatre on a Friday afternoon means many others also know & admire his great speaking ability.
He stood on the front of the stage for the first 40 minutes of his time and without a note told us the history of the Gallipoli campaign.
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