Neville Templeton reviews Hastings: A boy's own adventure by Dick Frizzell for 03 Magazine:
‘Acclaimed NZ painter Dick Frizzell has written his memoir of growing up in Hastings during the 1950s and '60s. The Frizzells moved from Auckland to Hastings in 1945 when Dick's father took a position at Tomoana freezing works after years at sea.
From here, Dick's recollections are peppered with much more detail, and memories of a time shared by so many children of these years. The games and risks, the escapades and the mistakes all so typical at a time when young people would spend their leisure hours outside and away from their homes.
This awareness extended to those around him. His father a keen devotee of the 'six o'clock swill', and his mother (and father) inviting friends to their home with music, parties, dancing and refreshments.
Dick made his way through school and into those jobs that were so plentiful in the 1960s, from bicycle deliveries for the chemist to sorting peas for Wattie's and fellmongery at Tomoana — who needed to worry about a career? His artistic talents were already being noticed.
If you (like me) were brought up in these decades, you will find these reminiscences will bring back so many memories.’
