In a book celebrating the first hundred years of Hansard in Canada's parliament, John Ward wrote that Roger White was “acknowledged by his colleagues as one of the finest shorthand writers ever to serve his country.” He also served as the official reporter for the Supreme Court of British Columbia. These were some of the skills White brought to the Publishing Department at the Baha'i World Centre where he was editor-in-chief of several volumes of The Baha'i World in the 1980s. He wrote the lyrics for 'Songs for Solo Voice' by Jean South in Luxembourg and the text of a book Forever in Bloom: The Lotus of Bahapur. I am confident White had many other talents and abilities that are not mentioned in this book, devoted as it is to a study of White's poetry not his life's activites.

In 1989 White gave a poetry reading in Haifa. He had been at the Baha'i World Centre for eighteen years by that time. The evening's program was called 'Lipstick and Bruises.' The tone was entertaining with a gentle satire in the air as he read and spoke. White was a sit-down, not a stand-up, comedian. He really was quite funny, not a surprising quality to anyone who knew his poetry and had received some of his letters. White satirized almost everything that the Baha'i World stood for but, in the end, everything and everyone's emotions and standards were left intact. His was a gentle voice, although I have come across many in the last thirty years who found his poetry far from gentle and far too difficult for their literary tastes.

Many really successful contemporary comedians who have gained popularity, at least in the last half century, leave not a stone or an institution standing after a thoroughgoing evening of satirical work is done. Not so with White. He certainly turned stones over with his satire but the process was gentle and embodied an etiquette, a refinement, of expression.

I was reminded, as I listened, of the Jews who for centuries have been 'the funny guys,' the comedians. There seems to be something about suffering that brings out the lighter side of life as a survival mechanism. It seemed most fitting that two hundred Baha'is should join White in an evening of laughter and pure delight. Somehow it was a sign of the maturity of the Baha'i community, so often measured in blood, sweat and tears, dogged persistence in the face of massive indifference and a faith which it was their hope and belief would move mountains, if not tomorrow, then over the centuries. One way of characterizing the Baha'i experience, White's experience, perhaps, was with, as White put it in the title he gave to the program, 'Lipstick and Bruises.'

White read many of his old favourites and the audience's. He also read some new material: from letters he had received, from his experiences and those of others. He joked; he played the raconteur, the provocateur, the stimulator, the titillator, the poet-who-lived-there, the kind man that he was.

I was not present at the evening's entertainment which was organized, White informed us, by the Department of Organization and Personnel. I was one of those who received a cassette-tape with the background music of the Iranian musician Masoud Rowshan who played the santour. I was one of those who heard the voice of the poet, I think for the first time, after enjoying his many voices in poetry.

There was a dryness in his voice, a little like the dry humour that comes out of Canada. But there was that kindness, the kindness that 'Abdu'l-Baha had pointed to when He visited Canada in 1912. White was one of those 'kind friends' that 'Abdu'l-Baha had raised up just about the time when Canada was forming its first National Spiritual Assembly in 1948. With a lifetime of service, over forty years, and the experiences of lipstick and bruises behind him, White was a veteran. He was also greatly loved. There would be four years of 'lipstick and bruises' to go before his innings were to be completed.

I wish I could have been there, although I was able to savour each line as it came off my cassette tape. I felt as if I finally had White to myself after all these years, such are the illusions of technology. Nineteen months after this poetry reading White would leave the Baha'i World Centre. With a quadruple bypass operation under his belt, so to speak, which he likened to “being struck down by a herd of stampeding rogue elephants or perhaps a small Sherman tank,” he still had a little left. He put that little into three books of poetry which were published within three years of this public reading at the Baha'i World Centre.
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One of the ways award-winning Inder Manocha handles hecklers when he is onstage doing stand-up comedy is this response: “Sir, if I embarrass you it's called comedy. If you embarrass me it's racism.” The retort works because of Mr. Manocha's diverse heritage – and its play on political correctness. This stand-up commedian is very different than Roger White.
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Then there is: Eslam Anthony Shams is an Iranian-American comedian and successful actor. His comedy routine switches between English and Farsi and he's got some harsh words for those Iranians in America who go to his shows and don't enjoy the 40% of it that's in English.
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And on and on one could go in this vein of contemporary humour, but I have said far too much here for threads that usually have shorter posts.-Ron Price, Tasmania

It appears this is what to do if you click on a link and it does not take you there. I think it means that it takes you to the topic comment page for that link and then you have to go to the bottom of that page and click on "NEXT PAGE". There you will find the comment you are trying to reach. This is how I could reach the comment I posted last night on greg's report after I posted it.

It appears this is what to do if you click on a link and it does not take you there. I think it means that it takes you to the topic comment page for that link and then you have to go to the bottom of that page and click on "NEXT PAGE". There you will find the comment you are trying to reach. This is how I could reach the comment I posted last night on greg's report after I posted it.

I click on "gregg" to get the report about the Australian Conference and it goes no where. This happened a few weeks back too. I would click and then do a page refresh and then search the page and find the comment. But this won't work either. I am using Firefox 3.0. I hate IE7 but maybe I will try it to see if it is my browser.