As Critic reaches the ripe old age of 85, we decided to have a chat with some other 85-year olds about some of the highs and lows of their lives. Susan Smirk chatted to Jenny Lambert, who used to go dancing every night; May Munro, who once caught a 385-pound shark; Len Robinson, who taught Anatomy at Otago; and Joan Robinson, who watched Manchester burning from her bedroom window during World War Two.
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I knew quite a lot of people who went to fight. I lot of the neighbours had to go away to fight.
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enny Lambert was born in Scotland. After high school she spent seven years training in her trade – she was a cutter, making men’s suits. Nearly all her work was army work during the War. She spent her time almost solely making officers’ uniforms. “I knew quite a lot of people who went to fight. I lot of the neighbours had to go away to fight.” Jenny immigrated to New Zealand with her family in 1947. “When I came out here it was very, very quiet ... and I thought it was dead, to be quite honest. Everything was old fashioned – very different to home. I thought I was back in the dark ages again.” Out here to the ‘colonies’, Jenny found the clothes to lagging behind in style. She says, “I came out with a lot of new stuff, and it was all modern. People used to look at me!” As a young person Jenny loved ice skating, roller skating, and above all, dancing. She went ballroom dancing “every night” and later took up modern dance as well. She says, “Dunedin has changed a terrible lot.” Jenny lived for a while in Southland but she definitely prefers Dunedin because there is plenty to do here, now: “ It took a while to get into the swing of things. But it’s come out a lot since then ... I’ve enjoyed it.” 18
Jenny says that young people today are “all very good – there’s good and there’s bad anywhere you go.” Her advice is to “Just go and enjoy life. Enjoy it as it comes!”