Geologist made mark on two stages
He was fondly known as ‘‘the singing geologist’’, because not only were his contributions to geoscience significant, his legacy as an opera singer and musical theatre performer will continue to be appreciated for many years to come.
David Skinner, who has died aged 81, made his name as one of New Zealand’s pioneering Antarctic scientists.
He was fondly known as ‘‘the singing geologist’’, because not only were his contributions to geoscience significant, his legacy as an opera singer and musical theatre performer will continue to be appreciated for many years to come.
He was born in Wellington and attended Seatoun School and Rongotai College and, later, Auckland Grammar School. A clever child, he was one of the original Quiz Kids on the radio with Jack Maybury – an extensive general knowledge became a hallmark.
He went on to Auckland University, where he completed a masters in 1962 on the geology of northern Coromandel Peninsula. In 1967, while employed by the New Zealand Geological Survey, he was awarded the university’s first PhD in geology.
He completed the first detailed geological mapping of the Coromandel Peninsula, a particularly difficult part of New Zealand to map, with rugged country, dense bush, and many weathered outcrops. By the 1980s, he was recognised as the leading authority on Coromandel geology, and several important scientific papers relating to its evolution and economic potential arose from his research.
He was an avid tramper, exploring nearly every corner of the New Zealand wilderness. On one occasion in the early 1960s, he tramped the west side of the Tasman Glacier with a party including Ed Hillary; he had the misfortune to accidentally put his foot on a loose rock, which hurtled below, shaving Hillary’s head, an incident that could have had disastrous consequences for the nation!
While at university, Skinner wrote, directed and performed in a number of revues. He was also part of a folk group called the Tarriers Three, performing gigs around Auckland.
His singing carried him into musical theatre, where he landed his best-known role as Tevye in
Fiddler on the Roof, which he performed many times around the country. With his Jewish heritage, he felt a personal connection to the role, and his acting and singing were truly heartfelt.
He entered the Auckland opera scene in the early 1970s and quickly made his mark, playing Scarpia in
Tosca for Auckland Symphonia Opera. He joined Perkel Opera, which took opera to the provinces at weekends.
The group would leave on Friday night in a minivan towing a trailer full of sets and costumes and
lights, drive to a venue, unpack the costumes, hang the lights, put up the set, rehearse a local chorus, have dinner, perform the opera, and then pack everything up, before heading to their local billets. The following day saw the process start over again at another venue, before they headed home on Sunday.
This gruelling schedule worked successfully for several years. Skinner sang many leading roles, including Figaro in The Barber of Seville and in The Marriage of Figaro, Sharpless in Madama Butterfly, Tonio in Pagliacci, Scarpia in Tosca, and Falke in Die Fledermaus.
After moving to Wellington in 1987 to take on the role of deputy director of the Geological Survey, he continued his involvement in music, regularly appearing with the Wellington Gilbert and Sullivan Society. His specialty was performing the humorous ‘‘’patter’’ roles, in which fast, witty lyrics would roll off his tongue at astonishing speed.
His last performance with the G&S Society was at the age of 75, when he sang tenor in the chorus. He was also its treasurer for many years.
Skinner’s other professional focus and passion was the geology of Antarctica. He participated in no fewer than 10 expeditions to the ice, more often than not as science
leader.
The first, in 1960-61, was a mapping expedition to the Byrd Glacier in the Transantarctic Mountains, with dogs still used to pull the sledges.
He was also involved in a number of joint expeditions with German and Italian geologists, the latter association leading to a longtime involvement with Circolo Italiano Di Wellington.
For his contribution to Antarctic geological research, he was awarded the Queen’s Polar Medal in 1984. He also has the Skinner Ridge in Antarctica named after him.
Having tried unsuccessfully to raise the cultural standards at Scott Base by playing the opera Cosi Fan
Tutte over the in-house sound system, he found that he was able to buy tapes of classical music from the nearby American base at McMurdo. These he took into the field to play in the tent when a whiteout or strong winds prevented outside work.
Such storms were not infrequent. In November 1975, he wrote colourfully in his diary: ‘‘I feel like an embattled knight in his castle continually repelling thundering battering rams. Temperature -3 degrees but wind more than 50 knots. The worst is when the wind is almost nothing, like a beast coiling in on itself before springing on its prey.
‘‘Then wham! The wind hits at full strength. The tent poles creak, the tent slaps like a whip cracking. The noise is so deafening we can hardly hear each other speak. To go outside is a major effort, and coming in brings masses of wet snow. When it will stop I don’t know.’’
Shades of Scott in the Antarctic, except that Skinner and his colleagues lived to tell the tale.
He was actively involved with the Geoscience Society of NZ for more than 35 years, leading field trips, helping to organise national and international conferences, and as treasurer. For his outstanding service, he received its 2014 honorary membership award.
He also directed his well-honed petrographic skills to forensic geoscience, in which careful study of rocks or minerals relating to a crime scene may be used to help solve the crime. In 1985, he helped to establish the case against the two French agents responsible for the Rainbow Warrior bombing.
Samples from a campervan thought to have been used by the agents revealed rock and mineral samples identified as common or indigenous to several localities where the agents had been.
In his later years, Skinner became the go-to person for the identification of strange and wonderful rock or mineral specimens discovered around the country, and for this service alone he will be missed. However, it is as the singing geologist that he may be most remembered.
He is survived by his wife, Shirley Kauter, and children Olivia and Jonathan. –