Ex-fireman lights up letters columns

After years of extinguishing fires, Bob Morris is igniting a few through his pen.
In 1992 RM Morris retired from the fire brigade and about a year later starting writing letters to the Chronicle.
The first was about the upgrading of Victoria Ave.
"I was upset about that' because that was ratepayers' money being used to pay for that," the Gonville man said.
"The water works department was just about non-existence. There were leaks all over Wanganui. This is where the money should have been going to."
Apart from a two and a-half-year stint in the police force in Auckland and Tauranga, Mr Morris has lived in Wanganui all his life.
A butcher by trade, he spent the last 28 and a-half years of his working life as a firefighter.
Asked what he thought of the new Wanganui District Council, Mr Morris said: "I'm still forming an opinion, too early to say yet".
However, he does have a view of its zero rates increase goal.
"They say there's going to be no rates increase this year, but God help us next year."
Mayor Michael Laws was "Either going to be another John Banks or another Tim Shadbolt, and I hope he's another Tim Shadbolt".
"The place is booming ahead since (Shadbolt's) been mayor there.
"That was Auckland's loss, Invercargill's gain."
Mr Morris had thought about standing for council, but his "crook ticker" prevented that. In 1992 he had a triple bypass.
Mr Morris is a fan of binding referenda.
He believed a referendum should have been held on the civil union legislation and has written that the way to settle the great aitch-in-Wanganui debate was through a referendum. Both central and local government politicians appeared to display a theoretical sense of intellect that they didn't hold.
"That's why things I don't agree with get passed."
Asked about the merits of the majority making decisions about the rights of the minority, Mr Morris said a basic rule of a democracy was that the majority ruled.
The "minority", such as those in favour of homosexual law reform, were the squeaky wheel that got oiled.
"Never mind what the silent majority wants, let's oil the squeaky wheel."
He described his political leanings as "central, left of centre".
Mr Morris met his wife Jo when she was working as a waitress at Peking Restaurant and, despite Mrs Morris forgetting about their first date, they've been married 38 years.
Mr Morris' parents ran the Aramoho Park camping ground and he has fond memories of parties with campers where everyone made their own fun.
A keen dancer, he recalled there was rarely any trouble at dances in his youth.
"You'd dance and you wouldn't give any cheek to your elders, call them silly old duffers or whatever you'd call them. You'd show a bit of respect."