bout de papier, Vol. 26, No. 1 (2011) — Summer/Fall 2011 // Été/Automne 2011, p. 30
Born in Winnipeg on Saint Valentine’s Day, 1926, of a Welsh father and an English mother, David took his secondary schooling at Ravenscourt and began his university education in 1943 at the University of Manitoba. In May 1944 he joined the Canadian Navy where he saw service as an instructor and a junior officer on the corvette HMCS Collingwood. In 1946, his parents now living in England, he resumed his education at Cambridge University where he took a law degree in 1949. He was called to the English bar in 1951, although he had no intention of practising law. After a variety of odd jobs in London, he sat the Foreign Service examination and joined the Department of External Affairs in 1952.
His first posting was to New Delhi in 1954. Following a tour of duty in Ottawa 1956-58, he served in three capitals in quick succession, Kuala Lumpur, Bonn and London 1958—62. David then spent a long period — for him — in Ottawa in Africa and Middle East Division and the External Aid Office 1962-67. Duty at headquarters was not always to his liking. To enliven its workaday atmosphere, he liked to exchange doggerel verse and limericks with a fellow officer to the amusement of colleagues. He returned to New Delhi 1967-69 and then went as Canada’s Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations, New York.
In 1972 he was appointed High Commissioner to Trinidad and Tobago, the first of five postings as head of mission. He was High Commissioner to Ghana 1974-76 with accreditation to Liberia, Benin and Togo. After a two-year stint at headquarters, he was made Ambassador to the Mutual and Balanced Force Reduction Talks, Vienna, 1978-82. He returned to Commonwealth affairs with his appointment as High Commissioner to Jamaica 1982-84, and following another home posting, he became High Commissioner to Zambia and Malawi 1987-90, in his own words “a logical finale to a career largely devoted to Commonwealth developing countries”.
In retirement David published his memoirs A Rich Broth: Memoirs of a Canadian Diplomat and two books Ambassador Assignments: Canadian Diplomats Reflect on Our Place in the World and Special Trust and Confidence: Envoy Essays in Canadian Diplomacy. He died on January 12, 2011 due to complications from Alzheimer’s. His wife Nina (Stone) died on January 26 from a rare and aggressive cancer. They are survived by their children Katherine, Michael and Caroline (Mrs. Edward Liptay) who stressed the importance of their mother to the success of their father’s career.
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Originally published in bout de papier, Vol. 26, No. 1 (2011) — Summer/Fall 2011 // Été/Automne 2011, p. 30. Read the rest of this issue →
