John Griffin writes about friend and former colleague Ian Thomas

Dear Graham

Your older subscribers will be sorry to hear that Ian Thomas, now in his eighties, is suffering from some serious health problems.

Ian retired about twenty years ago. For years he had managed the educational book department of Whitcombe and Tombs in Christchurch which, under him, was gererally considered the biggest, cleverest, most interesting and most successful operation in its field in New Zealand.

He then accepted the post of regional manager of Whitcombe and Tombs (or, as it soon became, Whitcoullls) for the lower half of the North Island, based in Wellington, with responsibilities extending to New Plymouth in the west, to Hawkes Bay in the east and to Nelson in the south. While in that position he became the president of the New Zealand Booksellers' Association, a position he filled with great distinction.

Ian discharged his administrative responsibilities with intelligence, determination and skill but in the end found himself so much at odds with the company's head office management that he retired in disgust. He spent the next two decades in active and happy domestication in Waikanae but latterly, since the death of his wife, Jan, has been living in the Metlifecare Coastal Village in Paraparaumu.

Good wishes will reach him there: I C Thomas, Villa 96, Metlifecare Coastal Villas, Spencer Russell Drive, Paraparaumu 5032, NZ

Sincerely

John Griffin