|
Glen Kinross
President, Rotary International
1997-98
When we were asked to write a short biography which would culminate in
Glen’s year as the President of Rotary International we recognised a task
which would be a privilege to undertake, but which, we thought, would have
its difficulties. First, Heather had not long died in tragic circumstances
and Glen was barely over the hurt and grief which her death occasioned.
Second, the events of his year as president, including the ground-breaking
low-cost shelter scheme, had barely had time to gel. We felt we were writing
current affairs rather than a considered history.
However, we have recorded the main events of his Rotary career to the end of
June 1998, and the record will provide a basis if other writers wish to
attempt a fuller ‘life’. We had ready access to good source material in the
back numbers of The Rotarian and Rotary Down Under, as well as the
Proceedings for the Calgary, Glasgow and Indianapolis Conventions and the
International Assembly Speeches for 1997 and 1998. Paul Henningham’s
introduction, ‘Meet Glen Kinross’, published in the July 1997 numbers of all
Rotary magazines provided an excellent starting point which we used
extensively.
Glen’s own records provided copies of speeches, programs and other
memorabilia and we had hundreds of photographs from his collection from
which we chose the illustrations used in the story.
Above all, we had the opportunity to talk to Glen, interviews which we
audio-taped over eight meetings with him and we want to acknowledge the
generous way in which he responded to our questions and the hospitable way
he received us in his home.
GLEN KINROSS
President Rotary International, 1997-98
by Basil and Beth Shaw |
