Description
These crisply written highlights and amusing anecdotes from David’s 50-plus years at the typewriter in England, New Zealand and in many Asian settings are a memorable passing parade of our times, seen through sharp eyes and an inquiring mind. Readers are in for a treat of good writing and firmly drawn opinions to savour. Whizzing All Over the Place is sure to enliven memories and spark many conversations.
— Sir Anand Satyanand
Highlights of David’s career included seeing a French nuclear test in the Pacific atmosphere during the world’s only government-sponsored ban-the-bomb protest, covering the Vietnam War, dodging bombers in London and Ireland, a weekend with a Maharajah in India and unwittingly working for the CIA. He spent a magical mid-summer night with a Lapland reindeer farmer, stayed in the most bugged hotel in Eastern Europe and was targeted by a dissident who sought his help to flee the Soviet Union.
While freelancing for some of the world’s top newspapers, David reported on 12 New Zealand prime ministers, including the wittiest … and the one who tried to end his career. As busy as ever in retirement, he mourns the diminishing interest of newspapers in global affairs, and the consequent demise of old-style foreign correspondents.
