History - Newton Bowles' address to the Group of 78 in Canada - also a mention of Jim Grant's first 'impossible project' : John Gilmartin
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Editor's Note: Back in January John Gilmartin sent this message and the attached copy of Newton Bowles address to the Group of 78. For some unknown reason, we did not post it on the blog at the time. However, it is an important part of our UNICEF history and is worth reading or re-reading now.
Afternoon Tom and Jim,
Your earlier messages about Jim Grant’s army days got me into reading about the 'Ledo Road’ as its called in history. Jim spent part of his early twenties, learning supply and logistics in wartime doing an “impossible project.” That was building a 1,000+ mile road from Ledo in Assam North East India through northern Burma, into Kunming China during world war 2 through mountainous tropical locations. They did it, Churchill thought it was amazing.
While reading about these I was reminded of Newton Bowles, our only 95 year old Programme Officer, which led me the attached, the text of Newton’s address to the Group of 78 in Canada in 2009.
No one in Unicef gave me more pleasure to talk with than Newton. I came away from every conversation thinking, "I’ve just talked with a great soul.” Newton always made time to greet me, and listen to whatever grumble or discovery I had wandered into working in Unicef. He made me, a new supply officer, feel important.
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I remember he answered , and it was funny, charming, and I came away still wondering, did he? Or didn’t he? I now realize Newton would never take credit for enticing Jim to join Unicef, but I also think there was no one more capable of doing just that. They were both missionary kids who were born and grew up in rural China, son’s of brilliant fathers from distinguished families. They were both fluent in Chinese as only little boys can become. They both witnessed intense human suffering which formed an inspiration for their future lives. So far, I haven’t found a reference to Newton recruiting Jim.
But, here is Newton’s annual lunch speech to a group of distinguished Canadians, it begins in his folksy way, which mentions the “Great Satan” often, and then considers the evolution of women’s rights within the UN context from the writing the of the Charter in 1945 up to the days of this address. It’s brilliant.
He said to me during one of his “dollar a year” days in Unicef (he was paid, one US dollar, and given a cubicle, and a phone extension), “these are the most difficult dollars I have ever earned,” and he smiled.
Enjoy, John
John,
ReplyDeleteThis is remarkable writing!
I too remember Newton very well. He was the last of senior HQ officials to interview me in 1974 for a post with UNICEF. I was forever grateful to him and told him so after he retired in New York, where our paths often crossed. A truly remarkable human being of great modesty.
Jim
John
ReplyDeleteMany thanks for sharing this remarkable piece by Newton. I recall him making a similarly moving address to a large group of us in Copenhagen for a meeting on emergencies. Newton was a remarkable person in so many ways. He could speak on any subject, UNICEF, the UN, art, literature without ever lecturing. He wanted to know what you felt and thought. We were fortunate to have an evening with him at our house and I remember talking long into the night.
Perhaps we could pull together another history article for News and Views about the China gang and what they brought to UNICEF.
By the way, one person we need to add to that list is Perry Hansen. Perry county was another of the China mission brats and I believe the last to come out of China after being detained there for a number of months.
Tom
Tom, After UNICEF hired me in 1974, I was sent as Program officer to the Regional Office in Santiago, Chile. My boss there was Ken Grant, another veteran of the humanitarian relief efforts in China during WW2, where he also met his future wife Betty. How fortunate we all were that our lives crossed with so many remarkable human beings in our careers with UNICEF. Peace, Jim
DeleteI do not have the time to comment in length, but note that Newton was responsible for my joining the Group of 78 in the late 1990’s and I have been a member until a couple of years ago. I still receive their documentation which is of high quality most of the time.
ReplyDeleteNewton was famous for his annual “state of the UN report”and I made sure to attend most of them.His wit and humour as well as his knowledge were always highly appreciated.
For those who might not know among the founders of the Group were Adelaide Sinclair, unicef Deputy ExDir for Programmes, and Maurice Strong of UN Environment fame.
More on this in due course.
Cheers
Fouad
Thanks to Fouad, John, Tom and my brother Jim concerning our wonderful former colleague and human being, Newton Bowles. I wanted to add my experience as a brand new PO at HQs. Newton was Director of the Programme Division. I was assigned as PO in the Americas Section with Jose Ignacio Zanartu. This was from 1973 to 1976. Jose Ignacio was very ill and by 1974 was forced to stay at home receiving serious care. My 9 years experience as a PO and then Head of Catholic Relief Services for seven years in Uruguay and Peru had prepared the way for me to assume Jose Ignacio's role.
ReplyDeleteIt became normal for me to have a very close relationship with Newton. I was very fortunate that this happened because I was able to learn about all of the ins and outs of UNICEF HQ and particularly how to react to the "Front Office" of Messrs. Labouisse, Heyward and Egger. Newton guided me through the minefield as a young but learning PO. He gave me many hours of instruction on how to deal with the intricacies of a complicated relationship between HQ and the Regional Office head Carlos Martinez Sotomayor. Simultaneously, I inherited the stiff misunderstandings between Zanartu and Martinez. Talk about being stuck in between two very tough and experienced Chileans at my young age (30).
Newton Bowles guided me through the quicksand. When Dr. Egger, who could not say no to Martinez, wanted to support a hair-brained RO proposal which I questioned, Newton advised me to meet on a Saturday morning early with Heyward to review the week's worth of proposals. I would take my list of arguments either pro or con to that meeting knowing full well that Heyward and Egger always met later that afternoon to review goings on. Most of the time I was able to convince Heyward accordingly. Usually Monday early, Egger would leave a note on my desk to revise his instructions from the past week. Newton would not only guide me, but when called upon he mostly supported my point of view on issues.
I am eternally grateful to the way that Newton Bowles taught me during those short years in HQ. My career later reflected his guidance and my learning process. His innate goodness and intelligence helped me immensely during the past 50 years.
I read the attachment sent by Fouad and John and very much enjoyed being reminded of Newton's
friendship and how much he meant to me.
All the best. Jim
Thanks for these lovely memories. Richard Jolly
ReplyDeleteMary, John, Tom Jim, Fouad,
ReplyDeleteThese historical comments about some remarkable people in my life bring back lots of wonderful memories. JimSent from my iPhone
I am glad that we brought back the article about our dear Newton Bowles. Reading thru the earlier comments I found mine a bit hurried and in need of more substance, so am adding these thoughts for the record.
ReplyDeleteI have in my personal library a series of documents written by Newton, mainly for the Group of 78 meetings. Reading them gives one a special kind of pleasure that is so different from the normal UN documents we have all been subjected to in our careers. Simply glancing at the topics already gives you an idea of the kind of person he was. Here are some of them:
"Small Arms Are Killing Children": dated May 1998, this is a note addressed to Liz Gibbons outlining the problem and suggestions for UNICEF action.
"Soft Power: The United Nations at Sixty". dated 20 April 2005 was prepared for the Academic Council, Ottawa.
"Growing Pains : The UN at 60". dated 20 November 2005 , it was delivered to the Group of 78 and the Canadian Pugwash Group.
"Vivisection :Reforming the UN", dated 28 March 2006 it was delivered to the Group of 78.
"Notes for Talk at UNICEF regional conference in Panama "; dated 19 October 2006.
"Sleepwalking: Dreams or Nightmares?..Wake Up or Drift Into Disaster"..dated 27 March 2007 delivered to the Group 78.
"Alive at Sixty-Two; the United Nations Today. A Report to Canadians".dated 21 April 2007.
I was delighted when Newton gave me copies of these notes. They provide me with fonds memories of him, both as a professional colleague and a personal friend.
As a postscript to the above I have just received an invite for a luncheon meeting in Ottawa on 22 May to hear Fergus Watt on "Prospects for Ambitious Reform of the United Nations". Watt works with the Coalition for the UN We Need (C4UN) which serves as a global platform for civil society engagement in follow-up to the SG's "OUR COMMON CONCERN AGENDA report, and the September 2024 Summit of the Future.
ReplyDelete