Editorial: Goodbye Keith Ridings

When The Daily Post's Our People series was launched, one of the first potential subjects we approached was Dr Keith Ridings. As a life-long Rotorua resident (minus a number of postings of importance elsewhere) we considered him an ideal profile candidate.

He told us to go away - most impolitely we may add - and to save it for his obit. The grin with which he delivered his command was impish, but frequently as we tried to encourage a mind-change he was resolute.

So, Keith, you got your way and it saddens so many that you did.

One person who did succeed in interviewing this man of medicine was Rotorua Museum's Ann Somerville. She did so in his capacity as the last Government balneologist at the then Bath House. "Keith gave me lots of important information about the Rotorua spa, describing all the strange treatments administered. During his time in office the morning consultation was always full," she says, adding he said that political forces hastened the end of the Bath House including "scurrilous rumours" about the state of the building.

If there was one thing Keith Ridings hated it was bureaucratic political forces. Despite his high-profile health sector roles, an area where bureaucracy personified can frequently be seen, he remained adamant that people were paramount. When he stood for Parliament it was, he told this newspaper, "to cut through the bull".

For Keith and his widow, June, their family of whom they were justifiably proud, was their prime focus, followed closely by community involvement. Their contribution to musical theatre's already well documented. The city's annual Melbourne Cup charity gala was always a diary "must do" for the honorary racing club doctor. More than once the elegant Ridings were named the best dressed, both singularly and as a couple.

Always one to enjoy a joke, Keith happily posed with a KFC sign when, on a newsroom visit, a reporter noted his resemblance to the fast food's "secret herbs and spices" colonel.

Discoursing on life in general over a coffee a handful of weeks ago, Keith mused that "old age is a bugger", saying we could happily quote him on that.

Thanks, Keith. We are delighted to, with an additional heartfelt thank you for the huge contribution you made to your city and its residents. You played a major part in weaving the fabric that is Rotorua.

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  Jill Nicholas is the former deputy editor of The Daily Post and now weekly writer of Our People with Jill Nicholas