By Roger Childs

A Hugely Talented Kiwi

I only knew Bob Brockie personally during the last 5 years or so while he was in Sevenoaks Retirement Village in Paraparaumu, but his name was familiar in earlier times. I visited him every Tuesday afternoon and we would chat for an hour. We also exchanged books and e-mails as well as opinions. One of his favourite authors was the brilliant Oxford historian Tom Holland.

To the end he was drawing cartoons which he sent off to various papers, and doing scientific research — last year on albino hedgehogs in Taranaki! His PhD was on hedgehogs. (One of his many delightful cartoons featured a hedgehog saying to his mate: Next year I want be run over by a Porsche.)  

He had an incredible range of knowledge on a great number of subjects — the sciences, politics, the arts, geography, current affairs, history to name some. When we met we would chat about various topics as our interests coincided. 

His illustrating skill was obvious from his cartooning and in recent years he produced 400 wonderful illustrations of living things from amoebas to mammoths, but he couldn’t find a publisher. It was designed to be a coloring book for all ages. Hopefully, it will eventually get into print. I’ve lost a good friend who was highly talented, funny, witty, irreverent and humble. What a life!

For a fuller account of Bob’s extraordinary 93 years, see Karl du Fresne’s article.