Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

Eulogy: John Deeks

2016; Volume: 41; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

1179-2965

Nigel Haworth,

Australian History and Society

Emeritus Professor John Deeks died in September 2015. John was a leading scholar in employment relations in New Zealand and, rightfully, claims a distinguished place as a founder of the discipline here. He was deeply respected and liked as a colleague, mentor and friend.John's roots lay in the post-war UK, where he developed a love of both scholarship and sport, and a particular interest in literature. Indeed, in his undergraduate career at Cambridge, he attended lectures by Raymond Williams, WH Auden and FR Leavis. However, half way though his Cambridge degree, John turned to Economics and Sociology, as a result of work experience in ice cream manufacturing and working in Harrods during his gap year. He learnt from that experience two things - never to eat mass-produced ice cream, and working-people need to be protected from predatory employers.John was a thinking Social Democrat by inclination, but his work experience made him a powerful advocate of work relations that are fair, respectful and responsible. He developed that interest in work and working-people in his postgraduate course in the London School of Economics, where he worked with Baroness Nancy Seear, staunch advocate of women's rights and equal pay. During this time, John developed a love for research and for fieldwork, particularly in the construction sector. His stories of fieldwork visits to the Glasgow construction industry matched Billy Connolly in their earthiness.Eventually, John came in 1972 to New Zealand and the University of Auckland. He had job offers in the UK and elsewhere, but he liked the idea of New Zealand. He came, and he stayed first in the University of Auckland's Continuing Education centre, then in the newly-formed Management department, which grew rapidly under his and others' leadership.He may have left English as a scholarly pursuit, but his fascination with literature continued all his life. He was a very able poet, and produced a stimulating and challenging collection of poems. He also wrote two unpublished novels and much more, including a TV script. One reason he gave for his untimely retirement was his desire to write creatively, an option not associated in his mind with his scholarly outputs. In this, I think he was wrong. John's capacity to write in lucid, compelling style is precisely what a scholar should do, and we were the poorer for his departure from the University.His reading was wide and catholic, steeped in the classics but always in touch with the leading edge of modern literature. And he loved poetry. His love of literature conditioned his academic career. To the end of his working life, he abhorred poor quality writing. When he was confronted by such writing, his hackles rose, and he could be formidable. This was also true of sloppy thinking by colleagues. John possessed the ability to ask the most precise and telling questions in seminars, never to polish his own reputation, always to require greater clarity of thinking. …