Vulture Street story

Man as hero

Dad believed in the individual, in his or her (there was no gender bias in his world) ability to achieve.

It’s a dominant theme for my sister Hélène who remembers being knocked over, spade and bucket in hand, by a freak wave while out for a walk with Dad one night.

She recalls: “The world turned white and very cold as the water surged around me, the bucket and spade were snatched from my grip. Through it all a single strong hand steadied and held me tight. As the water receded Dad simply swung me up onto his shoulders, shook his head and laughed. ‘Buy you another bucket littley. That was a big wave wasn’t it.’ I gazed in awe at the top of his head. Not even the sea was strong enough to shake my Dad.”

Faithfulness

Dad was faithful in his life. There were only two loves - Mum and Gran - and he was faithful to both of them in exactly the right way, and to the utmost of his ability. He was also faithful to his family and would have done anything for us.

Dad was also faithful to his word. Once it was given, that was it.

Openness and acceptance and forgiveness

Everyone felt relaxed with Dad. I never saw him treat another human being with any less dignity than any other. The ships he worked on had large foreign crews, and the crew all loved Dad because he treated them as equals. Taigal on the Guinea Gas called me his brother. Dad did however have limits and wouldn’t agree to Taigal’s request to marry my sister Bronwyn, who was 11 at the time.

His respect for people also extended to the whole living world. He never saw a dog that he didn’t like and respect, and I don’t think the dog ever existed that didn’t like and respect him in return.

Progress

Dad believed in progress - the word itself was for him a rebuttal to caution. He was a bit of a “gadget”. His mother shelled out six guineas - a princely sum at the time - to buy him a crystal set. She bought him an automobile before he could drive (she had to get the licence).

Dad was into poured concrete when everyone else was into wood, and had graduated to structural steel when everyone else was discovering concrete. He claims to have invented the rotary mower, and we have a chassis at home as proof, although Victa has the patent.

It’s typical that at the end of his life he was the major financial supporter of On Line Opinion.

Righteousness

Dad believed that all that is necessary in life is to do the right thing. The only scripture passage I can recall him quoting to me was from St Paul - “Test everything, and hold fast to that which is true”.

Family

Dad believed in the family. It wasn’t an abstract political philosophy but an organic concept where each generation builds on the previous one’s achievements. When he talked about his family history, it wasn’t just about the gossip but about educating us about who we are, what we shouldn’t do, and what we owed those who went before.