| Tom: |
Could you tell us a little bit about your childhood? School days?
Where were you educated? What kind of student were you? Is Geography your major in college? What lead you to that?
|
| JW: | Childhood: I was born in
London, UK in October 1928. At
about two or three my family moved to Gerrards Cross, a suburban town to the
NW of London where we grew up and went to a private school until I was 13.
At 13, I went to another Private school (actually in England called Public
School) Leighton Park, Reading a Quaker school where I stayed until I was
18. My school days were during
the WWII so we saw quite a bit of bombing - the first school I was at was
hit by a bomb but luckily during the vacation so no one was killed.
At Leighton Park we experienced, of course, rationing, and other
hardships associated with the war but it was generally a happy time.
I think I was rather a mediocre student but eventually I did get a
small scholarship (it was called a bursary) to go to Cambridge University
where I did my undergraduate work. I
got my interest in Geography from my teacher at Leighton Park.
He had been wounded in WW 1 and had an injury to his mouth so he
could not speak clearly. Anyhow, he was a great teacher and inspired me to follow his
footsteps. Geography was my
major at Cambridge. Before I
went to Cambridge, after high school, I had to do 2 years of National
Service working in the coal mines of N. England. So I did not get to
University until I was 20 years old.
|
| Tom: | I understand you are a
Quaker, how is your denomination different from traditional Christian faith? |
| JW: | I was a Quaker because my
parents were of that faith. Quakers are a sect of Christianity established
by George Fox in the 17th century. They
believed that people should be guided not by a priest or by the Bible but by
what they called the Inner Light. This
Light "was that which Lighteth Every Man who comes into the world"
according to the Gospel of St John. So
Quakers have no priests and the meetings are run by those attending not by
any hierarchy. Quakers are
pacifists and will not fight in wars. They
have a strong social conscience and have become successful in business as
well. Lloyds Bank, Cadburys
Rowntrees, Barclay's Bank etc are all Quaker firms. They were also
scientists and inventors. Joseph
Priestly was a Quaker and so were the fist iron and steel industrialists in
the UK. |
| Tom: |
I remember Erika told us that you were
supposedly going to Pakistan after Cambridge but didn't. What happened?
|
| JW: | Originally I was going with
the Quakers to Dacca in E Pakistan but I wasn't too keen on the missionary
aspect so when the job with the HK government came up I took that since I
was more interested in China in any case. |
| Tom: | Was National Service like
drafting into the army, instead going to fight, you work in some unholy
jobs? |
| JW: | Everyone had to do National
Service in UK for two years. You could choose either the army, mines or
farming, I enjoyed the
experience a lot and learned a lot from my mining experience. |
| Tom: | There was a time you were
going to be Quaker Missionaries, was that your first career choice? |
| JW: | No, the Quaker missionary was
not really a career choice. I can't really remember why I thought of doing
it. |
| Tom: | What is Geography? |
| JW: | There are lots of
definitions but mine would be: the
study of the interaction between and among people and the surface
environment of the earth both spatially and over time. |
| Tom: | Your definitions of
GEOGRAPHER? |
| JW: | A geographer is one who
studies one or more of these interactions. |
| Tom: | How to be a good geographer? |
| JW: | To be a good geographer one has to have the following qualities, I
think: " a special talent in the breast and a special vision below the
eyebrows" as the Chinese critic of the Western Chamber" Qin Shengtan (d. 1661) said. What he meant was that you need a heart
to feel and eyes to see to be a good traveller and geographer. We also need to love cultures and the landforms of the earth. |
| Tom: | Could one be a good geographer without physically experienced the
surface environment of the place? |
| JW: | Yes. Many geographers,
the quantitative kind, build complex computer models of spatial
interactions, say of the relations between different cities and flow of
goods and services between them. I
feel that to interpret their models correctly they should still see the
landscape where they are studying. |
| Tom: | An avid traveler could also be called an amateur geographer? |
| JW: | This is exactly right especially if he has that special feeling in
his heart and special vision below the eyebrows! |
| Tom: | On the subject of travel, you have travelled extensively around the world.
Is it study related or you just loved travelling? |
| JW: | Both. The places I have visited for research are also places of
great beauty and interest, e.g. China, Vietnam, Indonesia, and Thailand.
Other places in Europe and Antarctic, I have just visited for
pleasure. |
| Tom: | When you visit a place, do you take note of what you discover? What is
your routine when you arrived at a designation? |
| JW: | Nothing as organized as note taking. More likely I will take photos and use a tape recorder to remember
what it is I have taken! I
don't have any special routine. If
I know people in the country I depend on them for advice as to what to see.
If not, I read up about the place before I go. |
| Tom: | Of the different kind of geographers, urban geographers, political
geographers, historical geographers and bio-geographers. Which one are you? |
| JW: | I have done all these different kinds of geography. My doctoral
dissertation from the U of Chicago was Political Geography of China from BC
to the present, so it was also strongly historical. Most of my other work has been in the field of environmental
so I think we can add another category: environmental Geography. This would include the human aspects of soil erosion in China, waste
management in Vietnam and energy planning in the Sudan in Africa. |
| Tom: | Please give us a list of all the places you have visited? |
| JW: | China, Japan, Indonesia, HK, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Burma,
Malaysia, Sudan, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Yemen, Egypt, Most countries of Europe,
N America, Mexico, Costa Rica, Cuba, Bermuda, Argentina, Panama, the
Antarctic continent, Falklands and S. Georgia. |
| Tom: | Among these places, which one is a "must visit" and why? |
| JW: | It is impossible to say which is a Must visit. They all have different fascinating aspects. Perhaps the Antarctic
and S. Georgia are the most unusual - wild, bleak and great grandeur of
scenery unmatched anywhere else I have seen. It is also a place where there are no other human beings except for a
very small number in research stations. |
| Tom: | Is there some place didn't turn out to be what you have expected? |
| JW: | Yes, the Sudan. I expected a
desolate country, desert and scrub and desolate people and I found that but
the people had overcome all environmental difficulties and were friendly,
generous and outgoing and, at that time very liberal in their outlook. That
was in the early 1980s before the Muslim Brothers had taken over. |
| Tom: |
Is there a place you keep going back that is not your "home base"?
If there is, what makes you (kept on going back)?
|
| JW: | I think the Bruce Peninsula in Ontario. It has a wide range of geological and geographic features, is close
to Toronto and is surrounded by Georgian Bay on the east and Lake Huron on
the west. It is filled with
contrasting ecosystems: limestone systems in the east and lowland bog
ecosystems in the west. It is exactly half way between the equator and the
North Pole. |
| Tom: | Geographically speaking, which country is the most blessed? |
| JW: | Almost certainly, Canada. Vast a varied country, rich resources; one
third of the world's freshwater resources, 1/4 of the world's forests etc,
etc. Apart from earthquakes in
the west there are no serious tornado hazards but there are of course
hazards associated with severe winters. The population is low density and there is no great overpopulation. |
| Tom: | Are there geographical
formations or structures that overwhelm you? I am thinking of places like
Lake Louise, Grand Canyon or Antarctic. (Please give detail) |
| JW: | I think the Loess Plateau
region of China, say Shanxi province. Fantastic
gorges, cliffs and man-made terraces make it one of the most startling
landscapes in the world. |
| Tom: | What would be the ultimate
achievement for a geographer? |
| JW: | To know and be able interpret
every landscape on the earth's surface. |
| Tom: | Is there a book by Joe
Whitney in the planning? What would the title be? How many chapters? |
| JW: | International Development Projects: Successes
and Failures. Possibly
10 chapters. |
| Tom: | One silly question: Have you
been to Whitney, Ontario? |
| JW: | Yes, but it is nothing
special! |
|
(Oh, how disappointing. I
will switch gears to the travelling side after follow up questions on the
above. )
After two weeks of mailing questions and answers, Mr. Whitney sent
me this mail: Tom: I shall be away for a month in Europe after July 2 so we
shall have to resume when I get
back. Joe |
| Tom: | Mr. Whitney, I wonder if we could squeeze in a few more questions
before you take flight. |
|
(By
the way. where are you going? Research? Pleasure? Could you send us some
pictures with you in it during your trip?)
|
| JW: | We're going for a 500 K bike trip along the Danube. For
pleasure. I will send some pictures if possible on the trip.
|
| Tom: | I reckon mankind has made
some terrible destructive things to nature? Which is the worst? |
| JW: | The destruction of tropical rainforests is
probably the worst. Sudden
releases of carbon, destruction of the lungs of the earth - the forests-
that absorb carbon, create oxygen and provide moisture for the atmosphere
and hence rain. The destruction
also eliminates many plant and animal species that have gone forever. Also results in intense soil erosion. |
| Tom: | On the other hand, have
humans made any improvements to the planet earth? |
| JW: | The creation of more varied
man-made landscapes has allowed many species of animals and insects to
thrive. |
| Tom: | Is "Global
Warming" a legitimate concern or is it just an over hyped political
issue? Could nature correct damage made by mankind? |
| JW: | GW is not a hyped political event but a real
threat. CO2
increases have occurred in geological time before but they are now happening
in tens of years rather than thousands and this is what is causing the
problem. Nature will correct the damage made by man by eliminating large
numbers of people through natural events such as sea level rise destroying
cities and coastal lands and through intense storms. |
| Tom: | On writing a book, would
there also be a "Memoir" in the work? If so, what would that title
be? |
| JW: | I don't think I have any
plans for a memoir at the moment. |
| Tom: |
Speaking of books, there is a
book by Patricia Schultz oddly titled "1000 Places to See Before You
die". Could you come up with a definitive top ten list of places to see
before one dies?
|
| JW: | I know the book. My ten places would be: the Grand Canyon, Lake
Louise, the Loess Plateau of China, the Himalayas, Pagan in Burma, Bali, Mt
Erebus in the Antarctic, Alaska, the Three Gorges Dam. |
|
Mr. Whitney is currently doing a 500K Bike Tour along the Danube.
At age of almost 80, he's biking the distance of Toronto – Ottawa for
pleasure.
 Mr. Whitney on his bike in Passau, Germany
We will continue part two of this interview in August and will
publish it in our winter issue of Newsletter. Have a wonderful summer,
y'all.
|
Mr. Whitney on his bike in Passau, Germany
