Dry eye cast over Rockefeller case

By MICHAEL LARSON

In 1961, the youngest son of Nelson Rockefeller disappeared off the coast of what was then Western Papua New Guinea.

He was white, he was wealthy, his father was very powerful, and the anthropological team that Michael was part of had caused some problems for the Dutch colonists, while bringing money, tobacco and weapons to the native population.

All this happened while the Indonesians were trying to oust the Dutch, the Americans and the UN were trying to intervene, and the Australian Government was throwing its 50c in as well.

Australian journalist Paul Toohey examines the events before, during and after Rockefeller's disappearance with a wry detachment and a surprisingly free-ranging sense of humour.

At the time there was a lot of press devoted to the story - understandably so.

While it looked like a vaguely routine disappearance - rich kid goes jungle to find himself, drowns in waters he was too ignorant/arrogant to understand - scratch the surface, says Toohey, and there is a great deal more to this supposedly accidental event.

Well, he would say that - he decided to write a book about it, didn't he? Yes, there are a great number of anomalies, and enough wild theories to make the story of some interest (so much so that a screenplay was commissioned at the time).

Did Michael's party deliberately incite different Asmat villages to kill each other so they could capture cannibalism on camera? Did Michael form a homosexual relationship with one of the natives? Did he drown, or was the temptation of a white man wandering helplessly into a village - one who had made some enemies, both native and Dutch - too much for the cannibalistic natives?

Toohey explores every option and talks to virtually everyone involved, from the local missionaries to the world press who covered the story at the time. Only the family remain enigmatically silent.

He gets a good understanding of the anthropological motives behind Rockefeller's mission, and investigates with journalistic vigour, but an appealingly level head, the various conspiracy theories (including one that says Nelson Rockefeller wasn't particularly disappointed that his troublesome son was out of the way, as his disappearance wouldn't exactly harm the big guy's political aspirations).

The problem with this book is that Michael doesn't sound terribly likeable - so you don't care too much that he drowned or got eaten - and, secondly, 40 years on, the story doesn't hold the interest it once did.

Toohey does well to keep your attention. He backgrounds the messy politics, which gives him an excuse to investigate the implications of colonialism, and he looks long and hard at the moral concerns of white men ignorantly infiltrating native culture, just so they can showcase some spears and shields in a New York museum.

This is a good read, though, as Toohey writes very well. It is at times hilarious, and his dry cynicism about all things political gives the book a warm intelligence that keeps you hooked. And Toohey's brilliant satirical take on the whole thing, right at the very end, is alone worth the admission price.

Paul Toohey:Rocky Goes West

Duffy & Snellgrove

$22.95

* Michael Larsen is an Auckland freelance writer.