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 managedthe educational book department of Whitcombe and Tombs in Christchurch which,under him, was gererally considered the biggest, cleverest, most interestingand most successful operation in its field in New Zealand.

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

Ian discharged his administrative responsibilities withintelligence, determination and skill but in the end found himself so much atodds with the company's head office management that he retired in disgust. Hespent the next two decades in active and happy domestication in Waikanae butlatterly, since the death of his wife, Jan, has been living in the MetlifecareCoastal 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