Geering offers windows on his life

At 98, Lloyd Geering's journey has been a long one but the urge to write hasn't left him, resulting in a new memoir.

PORTHOLES TO THE PAST
Lloyd Geering
Steele Roberts

By JIM SULLIVAN

At 98, Lloyd Geering's journey has been a long one and, although his autobiography Wrestling with God came out 10 years ago, the urge to write has not left him.

In Portholes to the Past he reflects on life through the "portholes'' of family life, education, pastimes, pacifism and others.

Although he admits he found history "rather boring'' at Otago Boys' High School in the 1930s and dropped it in favour of physics, his "porthole'' topics come with sometimes lengthy historical background information, perhaps at the expense of the first-hand memories which are one of the attractions of this small book.

Nothing better illustrates the charms of personal reminiscence that the chapter about Cosy Dell in the 1930s. A 30-acre farm near the end of today's Southern Motorway, the primitive wooden homestead was a colonial cottage and the author's two hours of high school homework each night was done by the light of a kerosene lamp.

Young Geering's recollections of farm work, travel by train to school and the embarrassment of being seen by schoolmates in the farm horse and gig on the rare family visits to town may well be shared by the few of his generation who survive. Dunedin readers will connect with the chapters on Lloyd Geering's days at the University of Otago, but the personal experiences which show how the author coped with life's issues are the main strength of Portholes to the Past.

Unlike some recent biography, matters like sexual awareness and first romances are given a brief matter-of-fact treatment, while decisions about pacifism, career choices, personal freedom and the role of Christianity are explored in some depth. The clergyman who emerged from the early part of his journey shows a wealth of liberal humanitarianism and common sense and, at least for this book, the heresy charges of the 1960s are put to one side.

Geering's "portholes'' give glimpses of his work which touches a wider audience, from the environment to homosexual law reform and the idea that this is the "last Christian century''. And after 98 years of living and decades of study, Geering's take on the future is that "we will have to relearn what it means to live by faith alone''.

Jim Sullivan is a Patearoa writer.