At 66 years of age many Kiwis have completed their first 12 months of retirement, enjoying more time for family, travel and hobbies. Others are content to remain working with some achieving great things just as others wind down.
POETRY IN MOTION
English poet, writer and broadcaster, the late John Betjeman was 66 when he became Poet Laureate in 1972. Famous for his accessible, witty, and deeply nostalgic verse, as a young man Betjeman attended Oxford University which is a story in itself. It should be noted, perhaps, that he made little use of the academic opportunities. His tutor, a young C.S. Lewis regarded him as an “idle prig” and Betjeman in turn considered Lewis unfriendly, demanding, and uninspiring as a teacher. Although Betjeman’s mildly satirical, light-hearted poetry delighted a wide audience, he was not generally seen as a poet for grand occasions such as coronations. However, he had become a symbol of ‘ultra-Englishness’ and, therefore was generally forgiven.
FANTASY SWAPPED FOR REAL LIFE
Edgar Rice Burroughs was 66 when he became the oldest war correspondent in the South Pacific (at that time) after witnessing the attack on Pearl Harbour in Hawaii. Already famous for his Tarzan stories and prolific output in the adventure, science fiction, and fantasy genres, the American writer set aside writing books for the duration of the Second world war in order to send back report to the Los Angeles Times.
