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Eulogy submitted by Vernon Ram:
"It's part of an In Memoriam booklet going around now. Geoffrey Bonsall (1924-2010) lived in the 3-storey house adjoining Bob Davis in the 70-80s and introduced us to Lamma!"
Enigma variations
"Geoffrey Bonsall, also known as Charles Weatherill, was an amiable bundle of contradictions, always a pleasure to meet or hear from any day or night during almost a half a century we had known each other.
The indelible picture in my mind is of a cream-coloured Jaguar XJ 6 idling in the early hours of a morning on a lay-by on the winding stretch of road from Shek O to Central as I pulled alongside in my tiny Honda 800, a midget compared to Geoffrey’s mighty chariot, his pride and joy. Just a few weeks later, I again ran into Geoff, his face barely visible above a mountainous pile of books in a rickshaw outside the GPO as the skinny puller weaved in and out of traffic, cutting corners and traffic lights towards Pedder Street. “These guys are the best during rush hour: quickest, cheapest and most reliable to get me in one piece to my warehouse in Central,” Geoff explained with a knowing wink and smile.
Despite a deceptively genial, well-tailored exterior, Geoff deftly concealed a short fuse, a low threshold for small talk or imbecile quips he squelched with devastating wit and humour. Betraying little evidence of his scholarly upbringing or background in Cambridge, this scion of British missionary ancestors in China, an authority on the shorthand notes of the famous painter George Chinnery, had distinguished himself in Orientology with special emphasis on Chinese literature, painting and ceramics. Yet, he neither sought nor received any special accolade, gong or honour for his invaluable services to academia either at the Fung Ping Shan Library in the University of Hong Kong or the HKU Press where he held senior executive positions.
Endowed with superb communication skills as a writer, publisher and broadcaster at Radio Television Hong Kong for several years until his retirement, Geoff was an instant source of information on every conceivable topic. A maverick with wholly unpredictable twists and turns in his own personal and professional life, Geoff also had the rare gift of being able to infuse in those near and dear to him the knack of being able to view life with a clear, new perspective inspired no doubt by his own seemingly endless grand vision. To his numerous friends and admirers, such as yours truly, he will always remain a lovable enigma who will be sorely missed."
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