Academic had glittering career, inspired her students Children’s books ‘loved by and touched millions’
A PIONEER of the study of British and New Zealand relations with Japan, Ann Trotter(90) was a distinguished historian, a muchadmired teacher, and the first woman provicechancellor at the University of Otago.
Ann was born in Hawera on January 23, 1932, the third of four children of Clement and Pam Trotter.
Her father was managing director of stock and station firm the Farmers’ Cooperative Organisation. He taught Ann to ride at an early age. She and older sibling Ron would go riding together and had many adventures. Ron’s pet name for Ann was ‘‘Bill’’.
When younger sister Judith was born, her mother said to
Ron she was sorry he did not have a little brother, to which Ron, then 7, responded: ‘‘If she’s as good as Bill, she’ll do.’’
Ann attended Hawera Main Primary School. It was a happy childhood. In 1945 she went to St Cuthbert’s College in Auckland for her secondary education. She did well academically, and in sporting and cultural pursuits, and was appointed head girl in 1949.
She completed a master of arts with honours at the University of Otago in 1953, followed by a graduate teaching qualification at Auckland Training College. In 1955 she left for London, where she taught for two years before taking up a post lecturing for the International Wool Secretariat.
Ann returned to New Zealand to teach at Epsom Girls’ Grammar in 1959. She excelled as a teacher. Brian Edwards credits her with inspiring the young Helen Clark with a love of history.
A former pupil, Diane Morcom, remembers that she and her friends thought Ann was ‘‘fabulous’’.
‘‘We loved her style, her enthusiasm and energy, the huge interest she took in us all and her encouragement to us.
‘‘She conveyed a huge love of history, extending our appreciation to include New Zealand, Japanese and Chinese history, at a time when most of us thought of history as the story of the kings and queens of England.’’
That breadth of curiosity about the world led Ann to take time out from teaching. She was aware of the growing importance of New Zealand’s connections with Asia as the country’s ties with the United Kingdom weakened. She decided to study Asian history at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London, taking an MA with papers on China and Japan.
Her brilliant results led to an invitation from Prof Ian Nish to undertake a PhD under his supervision at the London School of Economics. He was a gifted and encouraging supervisor. The result was a PhD in international history on British relations with China and Japan in the 1930s.
Then professor of history at
Otago, Angus Ross let Ann know the department needed an East Asian specialist. At the end of 1973, she joined the department and developed two new areas, East Asian and Russian history, and a very popular fourthyear seminar course, ‘‘Great Powers in Asia in the 20th Century’’. Just as she had entranced her high school students with her style and fierce intelligence, so she did her university students, a number of whom went on to have distinguished careers.
Ann met and married fellow academic Stephen Mandel, who shared her sense of fun and adventure. They travelled extensively, had many skiing escapades and flew together in small planes over Central Otago, with Ann as copilot. Eventually Stephen’s decision to move to the United States made the marriage unsustainable and they divorced.
Ann’s research flourished. Cambridge University Press published Britain and East Asia 19331937 in 1975. It was warmly received for its ‘‘superb’’ use of hitherto untapped sources and the light it threw on the development of British policy in East Asia.
In 1990, New Zealand and Japan, 19451952: the Occupation and the Peace Treaty was published. In 1991, the prestigious University Publications of America invited Ann to become area editor of the Asian volumes in the series British Documents on Foreign Affairs, Confidential Reports and Papers, 19141939. This was editing and annotating on a huge scale: a remarkable achievement of great benefit to other scholars and students of international relations.
From 1993 to 1997, Ann was the first female provicechancellor at the university and head of the division of humanities. This was a period of significant change, and hard decisions had to be made at a time of financial stringency.
Ann’s colleague, Erik Olssen, wrote: ‘‘With a combination of a bridge player’s concentration, and a thoroughbred’s capacity to race to the wire, Ann achieved a balanced budget. Under her leadership, Maori studies and women’s studies were placed on a secure foundation, vigorous links with the United States were created and a bachelor of education programme for Malaysian students established.’’
In 1997, Ann was named an officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to historical research.
She retired to Wellington in 1998, but remained a committed scholar and an active member of various groups concerned with Asian studies, was made a life member of the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs and became a senior fellow at the Centre for Strategic Studies.
Throughout her life, Ann took pleasure and great interest in her extended family.
In Wellington she joined the Talavera Tennis Club and the Victoria Bridge Club, and later the Kelburn Croquet Club. She was also an active supporter of classical music, attending performances at every opportunity.
Together with her sister Judith, Ann attended seven Ring Cycles and other Wagner operas in various parts of the world.
Ann was a role model to many young women who saw in her what they might become: leaders in their field, with a wonderful sense of style and fun and a commitment to excellence.
She died on July 14. — Contributed by Barbara Brookes, Erik Olssen and Katharine Greig
RAYMOND Briggs created the bittersweet children’s book The Snowman, which sold more than 5.5 million copies around the world.The crayonillustrated wordless picture book was first published in 1978.
A television adaption became a Christmas favourite in Britain and was nominated for an Oscar.
It tells the story of a boy whose smiling snowman comes to life to play during the night and then takes him on a flight through British winter landscapes.
The book ends on a melancholy note when the boy wakes to find the snowman has melted.
The author died on August 9 aged 88.
‘‘We know that Raymond’s books were loved by and touched millions of people around the world and will be sad to hear this news,’’ a family statement, issued by his publisher, said.
‘‘Drawings from fans — especially children’s drawings — inspired by his books were treasured by Raymond, and pinned up on the wall of his studio.’’
Briggs was born in London in 1934 and studied art before going on to publish a range of children’s books.
Although The Snowman does not depict Christmas itself, an animated television adaption first aired on Boxing Day 1982, and it remains a staple of British broadcasters’ seasonal scheduling, bringing the story to new generations of children.
It was nominated for an Oscar in 1983 and won a British academy television award in the same year.
To celebrate the 40th anniversary of the book’s publication, the Royal Mint produced a special colour coin depicting the boy and his snowman flying over the pier in Brighton on England’s south coast.
Briggs’ other characters include a humanscaring monster with a surprisingly mundane life named Fungus the Bogeyman, whose daily routine gently satirises British culture.
He also published the graphic novels When the Wind Blows, about a nuclear attack on Britain from the viewpoint of a retired couple, and Ethel and Ernest which told the story of how his father, a milkman, met his mother, a maid.
‘‘Raymond liked to act the professional curmudgeon, but we will remember him for his stories of love and of loss,’’ his literary agent Hilary Delamere said in a statement. — Reuters