Agriculture. He worked in the United States, meeting wife Cherie in 1982 – “we hit 40 years married this June” – and having three sons. Returning home, Bill took over the family farm before discovering, at 34, that he had a tumour in his cervical spinal cord. “They are very rare tumours, and quite hairy to operate on, given the surgeon has to slice open the spinal cord and dig tissue out,” he explains. “Between two surgeries and six weeks of radiotherapy, I was left with partial paralysis on my left side, all sorts of nerve issues, and not a great sense of balance – a good outcome according to the surgeon. I tried various ways to rejig our farming business to compensate for my physical deficits but got to a point where there were too many frustrations. We sold up in 2002, without a firm plan B.”
Opting to return to Lincoln, Bill gained a Postgraduate Diploma in Applied Computing. “I have always enjoyed technology, and not knowing what path my health would take, I thought IT skills might be more useful than physical skills,” he says. “I also rekindled my love for photography, coinciding with the early days of digital photography, and my new IT skills proving very useful.” Bill soon became a sought-after commercial photographer, with a focus on the farming industry. “Understanding the farming world and knowing many of the people within the industry firms meant I could produce images that worked. I travel to many farms over the South Island. It is a small world, and I can meet a farmer and come up with a common connection quite quickly.”
Above and above right: Outside the Boat Shed at Kerr’s Reach with Headmaster A M (Tony) Brough in the white blazer.
Right: Staff members Jerry Rowberry (left) and John Taylor with boys sitting on the wall surrounding the old swimming pool. In the background are the Chapman Block (left), squash courts, and Open Air Classrooms.
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