Tony Hooper

 Blog post to Keith Mattison 

I am sitting in my lounge in Wellington, New Zealand. As one would expect at this time of the year it's a cold and wet winter’s day, but surprisingly, there is no wind. In this slightly gloomy outside atmosphere, inside there is a warm fire in the grate. I am going through the blog posts that are on Keith's blogspot. They transport me back to events that I associate with my many years at the University of Cape Town. I see Derek Smith's post with the cartoon of the early staff members of the Department of Accountancy and the Sub-department of Business Data Processing. With Keith and Derek were of course Peter Lay and Mike Eccles. Mention was made of my friend Leon Kritzinger. That was an amazing team with amazing vitality at a very exciting time in the development of our discipline. . 

I first met Keith in the 1980s when I was the University Librarian at UCT and we were battling with our library system. In those days IBM sold us a 'solution' to our library problems based on an AS/400 I seem to recall. I was somewhat sceptical about the solution because we had other options that seemed to me to be more attractive, however it was a learning experience. IBM contracted with a software supplier in Australia and no sooner had they started installing the solution than the supplier went bankrupt. In the contract, provision had been made for the source code to be held in escrow. The software suppliers refused and subsequently defaulted on that contract. Because South Africa was a social and political pariah at the time, suddenly all communications between us and IBM and their software surrogates ended. Keith Mattison was our link with the suppliers and I think it was through Leon Kritzinger that contacts were made with the IBM representative responsible for South Africa who was somehow resident in Europe. My memory of the details is somewhat vague. Nevertheless, in due course, the problem was resolved and we ended up with a partially operative system for the library. 

In the interim we had developed various Bondwell based functional components that worked in several departments of the library. There was no such thing as integration at that stage, so it was end user computing at its most primitive. Keith was our adviser. Keith was the expert, always cheerful and positive, to whom I could turn when I needed technical insight into the most appropriate way of doing things. He was always approachable and ready to give of his time. I greatly appreciated his good humour and cheerful smile. 

Subsequently, when my son decided that he no longer wanted to be a student of computer science and would rather go out and earn a living, I took him to talk to Keith. I hoped that he might agree to do a B. Com. in Information Systems with the potential of going further into postgraduate studies later. Keith did his best but my son was determined. I was most grateful for the time and interest that Keith took. 

I recall the day that Keith informed me that he was retiring from UCT. I wished that I could do something similar. Keith described in glorious technicolour his dreams of sailing and playing music and doing all the things that he ever wanted to do. What a wonderful vision it was! I saw ahead of me many years of work at the University of Cape Town in trying circumstances. I have subsequently learned that such circumstances are not peculiar to UCT, but are endemic in universities around the world. UCT, in the transition between Stuart Saunder’s tenure as Vice Chancellor and that of Mampela Ramphele, managed to put its own spin on the problem. But that is a story for another occasion and will no doubt come out in a history to be written one day in the future. 

Although it was a difficult time I look back on my decision to accept an early retirement offer with admiration at my uncharacteristic foresight. Once I had recovered from the joy of having time to think through where I wanted to go and what I wanted to be, I was most grateful to Derek Smith for allowing me on to the B. Com (Hons) programme. Tony Hoffman seems to have taken over from Keith at that stage, because he was the coordinator of the part-time honours programme while I was on it. I had a blast! Getting back into studying and working with younger mid-career people who were passionate and dedicated to their studies, was a joy. In the end I was surprised at the grades I got and delighted when Derek suggested I might be interested in teaching in the Department. 

Derek's kind offer and two years of teaching in the Department of Information Systems set me up for my subsequent career. While in the Department the offer came to spend a trimester teaching here at Victoria 

University of Wellington in the first half of 2001. Once here my wife and I loved the people, the work, the students and everything about what we were doing. By the end of 2001 Victoria University of Wellington made permanent employment offers to us both. I was to become Programme Director of the Master of Information Management programme (a new initiative embracing elements of IS, communications, e-commerce and librarianship - like an MBA but for IT professionals). My wife Val became a lecturer within the School of Information Management. The Department staff gave me a warm and affectionate send-off at the end of 2001. At the dinner party that Christmas, Graham McLeod awarded me a Viking Helmet, complete with horns that I still have, and Derek gave me a Springbok rugby scarf to wear at international matches in case my loyalties became divided! I have done that and still use the scarf! 

That was 12 years ago. I still enjoy being Programme Director of the MIM, but I'm about to hand over to one of our graduates. I will continue to teach and do my research. Val, on the other hand, completed a Ph.D. and was subsequently appointed Head of School. That means she has been my boss at work as well as at home for the last four years - something which takes a certain amount of mental fortitude on occasions in order to survive with one's sense of humour intact. 

I was so sorry to hear from Keith about his idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. It really doesn't sound at all good but Keith’s sense of humour and wonderful friendliness remains intact. Keith, go well! We wish you strength and fortitude in the battle that you're engaged in. Our thoughts are with you from this south-eastern corner of the world. Best wishes to you all. 

Tony Hooper 

PS Among the blog posts I see a lengthy post from Doc Caldwell in which he indicates that he is living in Hilton. I last saw Doc when I had dinner with Michael and Carol Cassidy sometime in the late 1970s. During the course of a lovely dinner we were informed that one of the local Zulu residents had turned up on foot at the kitchen door with an axe embedded in his head seeking Doc's help. I was amazed at how relaxed and matter-of-fact Doc seemed to be. But then if I think back to the time that Doc and I were in residence in Driekoppen, near Mostert's Mill, in 1964, he seemed to be calm and together even then. I wonder what happened to Charlie Townsend and David Jordan whose rooms separated those of Doc’s and mine?