Chris Brickell Historian and author Chris Brickell, whose epic book Mates and Lovers, A History of Gay New Zealand, will be officially launched this Friday after three and a half years of research, was initially a shy Hutt Valley kid, “and a pretty nerdy one!” Nerdy... meaning academic rather than sporting? “Yeah, that's what it's code for, not at all sporting!” he laughs. Secondary education at Hutt Valley High (“perfectly pleasant really”) was followed by geography, French and “a little bit of sociology” at Victoria University. “I originally wanted to be a town planner, but as time went on, I got more interested in the study of society.” It’s clear from his written descriptions of environments such as early hostelries and prisons that spaces still fascinate him. Whilst at Vic., Brickell spent summers working for the Historic Places Trust. “I was doing research into various historic places and buildings in the Wellington area. And through that work I got more and more interested in history.” “Later on, as sociology in New Zealand developed, you could study gender and sexuality. I got really interested in that for personal reasons of my sexuality, and partly just because I found it interesting.” His early experience of homosexuality was largely provided by TV. “We grew up with the Mr. Humphries character on Are You Being Served? and I've since fallen in love with him all over again. And Hudson and an extraordinary documentation of the gay liberation Movements from the 1970's, and photographs to go with them. But there's virtually nothing in there from prior to 1960. There’s a lot of National Library material in my book, but most of it hasn't come from LAGANZ, it's come from the general manuscripts and general collections.” Brickell spent a good deal of time outside libraries and archives, talking to men with stories to tell and memories to gently unlock. “I approached people who would approach other people on my behalf, worked through networks, in a sense. I didn't want to cold approach people, particularly given the nature of the topic. Some were willing, some weren't willing. I did have one quite aggressive refusal. The oldest man I interviewed, who was 90, who's since died unfortunately, he could remember the names of his friends from the 1930s, which I just thought was absolutely astounding.” In Part two of this discussion, online this Wednesday, Chris Brickell talks about the changing gay culture in New Zealand, which overseas gay communities we drew on, the things he learned while researching Mates and Lovers, and the ways in which different versions of gay history can conflict. Mates and Lovers - A gay history of New Zealand By Chris Brickell Random House $49.99 Jay Bennie - 28th June 2008