Tributes flow for ex-Wairarapa journalist

Tales of a complex and generous man who would rather "push a pen than a lawnmower" were told at the funeral of former Wairarapa man Derek Round yesterday.

More than 300 people, including former Governor-General Sir Anand Satyanand, his wife Lady Susan and former MP Georgina Beyer turned out to pay tribute to the veteran journalist at St Paul's Cathedral in Wellington.

Former editor of The Dominion Richard Long led the eulogies, reminiscing about time spent with Mr Round in Asia during the 1960s.

He spoke of living with a mentor and a friend, and said Mr Round was a man of huge principles who was extremely well read.

"He had amazing self-discipline, when we were living in Hong Kong he would wake up every hour throughout to listen to the news bulletin." (This was during the last days of Mao Tse-tung as Mr Round did not want to miss his death.)

A cousin, Martin Round, had earlier told 3 News that Mr Round told him he planned to write memoirs that would reveal his work as a spy.

Mr Round, aged 77, was found dead in the living room of his home on Campbell, Wanganui on May 17.

A post-mortem examination showed he had been beaten multiple times about the head and had died early the previous evening.

Last Tuesday, 31-year-old Michael Umanui Werahiko appeared in the Whanganui District Court charged with Mr Round's murder and was remanded to reappear on June 6.

Mr Round held distinguished roles as an editor and foreign correspondent during a career spanning more than five decades.

He was one of the last New Zealand journalists to leave Saigon as the Vietnam War came to an end and later became Asia correspondent for NZPA in the 1970s.

Later roles at NZPA included political editor at the parliamentary press gallery, London bureau chief, and editor - a role he held from 1984 to 1989.

Mr Round was made a member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for his services to journalism in 2010.

He later worked as a sub editor at the Wairarapa Times-Age, was chairman of the Martinborough Community Board, and also owned bookstores in Martinborough and later Greytown.

His son Mark Round said his father was not a handyman, preferring to push a pen rather than a lawnmower.

"He'd take a couple of passes at the lawn and then go back inside leaving it running and bury himself in the newspaper until the petrol ran out. Then he'd go back out and push it into the shed," he said.

His daughter Sally Laven said as a child she never had any idea what her father did for a living except "it involved a lot of newspapers".

She said family holidays were interesting. "While other kids would get to go to Disneyland and see Minnie Mouse, we went to steel factories in China during the cultural revolution."

Her father was a "complex, difficult man" who was "very proud of his family".