Great storyOne morning recently, Marion, my wife, said "I heard a great story on National's All Night programme. Ten past three. Fishing with the Colonel. A real hoot. Read by the author. I want you to hear it. But I can't find it on the RNZ National website so I've emailed All Night asking if they can give me a link." Sure enough a reply came back but it was disappointing "Good morning Marion," Peter Mcllwaine, one of the All Night announcers replied. "I tried to find a link to this story for you but it appears unavailable. This is usually due to copyright issues." Marion emailed again, this time asking where it could be found – in a book maybe. Nothing happened for a few days but then, Vicki McKay, the presenter on whose night the story had been broadcast, replied, reinforcing that it was not available on line but saying, "It's included in Spinning A Line, a book of Short Stories that Owen Marshall compiled ." I've got that
MoreMarion, thinking that Vicki the All Night presenter might be a bit amused by this chapter of events, emailed again. Back came a reply "Oh Marion, That is a classic story in itself! You had me laughing out loud. I almost want to share it on Air but I won't, in deference to your privacy. That is priceless comedy Roger Hall would be proud to have written." Marion emailed yet again, this time giving Vicki permission to share the story. The following morning one of our close friends, another night radio listener to whom we had already related this odd sequence, grinned broadly as we met and couldn't wait to say: "At 3 am this morning, as I woke up, I slowly realised I was listening to something I'd heard before." ForbiddenI wish I could reproduce David Elworthy's Fishing with the Colonel here in my blog but I can't. However. if you'd like to to sample the flavour of Spinning a Line, against the hope of buying or borrowing it one day, (it's a good read) I can help with that. Some long time ago, I too recorded my story from Spinning a Line. RNZ National gave me an audio copy and it's on my website. If you would like to hear it, please click this link which will take you to my fishing page. Scroll down and you'll come to Dawn. Welcome backDawn, which you've just heard, is one of several trout fishing stories in Spinning A Line but the book contains all sorts of examples of New Zealand fishing writing. Some very well known New Zealand literary names are listed among the authors – names I would not normally associate with fishing. Although the book is 20 years old I hope you can find it in a library, a bookshop, a second hand shop, or on line. Last time I looked Amazon had one copy. I hope even more, that RNZ National will one day again put to air Fishing with the Colonel. HorrorAs I conclude this post I am very aware that many parts of our world are concerned with matters a lot more urgent than fishing stories. I have lived and worked in India. Now, every night television news shows overburdened hospitals, people gasping for breath in cars, and the burning ghats short of wood and unable to cope. I feel the reality of that. I feel the hopelessness and the suffering. I don't see how the country can possibly cope. It's overcrowded, badly organised and frequently hampered by culturally inbred bribery and corruption. I own that I feel guilty because I fiddle about with triviality while millions of other humans suffer. I can only hope that the whole world will give to India massive help, most of which will get to where it needs to go. And i hope too, that one day, not too far off, Indian citizens will be able to live healthy settled lives. □ John McInnes Friday 30 April 2021 Book publication details: Spinning a Line, editor Owen Marshall, A Vintage Book by Random House New Zealand, 2001 ISBN 1 86941 467 5 ##########
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