“

apprehension that I
took up Derrick

im” ifumphreys’ book The

Making Of A Grey

§ Panther, which is his

story as told to writer

ag John Munro.

What's all this Grey

. Mee Panther stuff, I asked myself?

woe

we

And it put me off a bit that

Mam other reviewers had used

superlatives. “Rousing,” “fas-

gcinating, ” “dauntless
ase Derrick,” and so on.

V'tl just say that the book
is a guod read, that I learned

ssomething from it, and that I

got some surprises.

Araong other things it is a
chronicle of times past
m Especially with regard to
what the former mayor of

West Van calls “the ex-

f Empire.”
There was this 18-vear-

old, bogging off in 1931 to
Mm Australia during the Great
Depression. A high school
B craduate, he was a Dick
ay Whittington in reverse, leav-
ming London instead of going

to it.
It was a reflection of the

" age. in 1931 the Empire was

anot “ex.” It was real. If you
fwere young, white, and 21,
as the saying went, you were

min. (Now you’re oui.) But it

s stil] amazing that in such
bad times this kid could go
to Oz and start in the mining

industry.

The answer was Daddy's
contacts. His father was no

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on the

other hand

big noise but he knew a few
people and doors opened. It
was miraculous, though, that
the Aussies let this young
Pom in when their own peo-
ple were lined up looking for
work.

If you want to know the
rest of his long Australian
odyssey you'll have to read
the book. Suffice it to say
that he buckled in, worked
like a horse, got into manage-
meor, where he’s been ever
since, and joined the
Australian Army.

He has hopped from raan-
agement job to management
job like Flora jumping the ice
floes. In Australia, South
America, South Africa and
Canada.

Contacts ali the way. But
he had something to offer,
not the least of which were
drive and know-how.

And as he puts it, he had
no time for fools.

if that .ounds arrogant,
he probatiy does have more
than a few spoonfuls of arro-
gance in his make-up. Some

people ac district hall must
have thought so because he
claims to have been the first
full-time, in-charge mavor
West Van ever had.

His predecessors, he says,
viev : job as a part-time
thing. But he started giving

and the bureaucrats.
had to listen: to him, instead
of it being the other way
round.

Vike that. Bureaucrats
have their place. And they
should keep it.

Interesting, too, is his ver-
sion of how he was defeated
for the mayoralty in 1986 by
the late Don Lanskail. Te left
him high, dry, and “on the
beach.” For he had never
earned a lot as mayor. His
secretary was paid more, that

n being the way of things

Tory. He never jumped over
to the Socceds when they
were in power. Even now he
refers to the Tory defeat

“relative deciniation” when
fact they were d out.
He worked with the

Socreds but act for them.

And got an immense amount

done.

He does not avoid the
many controversics that sur-
rounded him, from the
“MAYOR?” licence plate on
his car to the expenses row
that led to his resignation
from the B.C. Gaming

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Commission,

His private problems are
revealed, too, including his
disastrous first marriage.
Which, fortunately, has been
offset by a very happy sec
marriage to his present wife,
Margar it.

When he was thinking
about having another crack at
the mavyoralty he asked me
(and dozens of others) what I
thought. [rold him he'd be
crazy. Who needs that, at 83
years of age?

This book ts not just
about West Van. It is about
Huinphbreys’ world and the
world of B.

As for that “Grey
Panther” stutf it is this: he
thinks of himself as “a grev
panther stalking the corridors
of city hall to keep the pre
sent collection of councillors
on their toes.”

Long may he stalk.

The book costs $17.95
and is published ty Ronsdale
Press. Christmas is coming
and vou could do worse than
buy it.

~~ The North Shore News

belieres strongly in freedom of

speech and the right of all
ides in a debate to be heard.
iusmnists published in
the News present differing
points of view, but those views
are not necessarily those of the
newspaper itself.

Call,
DEREK A. CAVE

Trial Lawyer
Get the settlement
you deserve.

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