Fairburn and Friends

ARD Fairburn, probably more than any other New Zealander, bridged literature, politics, commerce, medicine and art history. He moved from the worlds of architecture, broadcasting, painting and photography to the environment and outdoor pursuits, and he was always intent on debating social and philosophical ideas. [He] liked nothing better than to expound these notions and toss them around in the company of good friends, drink in one hand, pipe in the other. His friends included many of those most prominent in those same worlds, from the 1920s through to the 1950s. ... Many of these friends feature in this book, written about by their near and dear or by those who knew them well. They are affectionate portraits but not uncritical. ... All in all they add up to a ... picture of a unique time in New Zealand's social, political, and literary history."--Back cover.