Roy’s
heroes (with apologies to Clary of Hogan’s)
I might have referred to these people as mentors. My
past was formed by many. Heroes seemed appropriate for this line-up. They are
contemporary people in my life.
First up is my walking companion, Pat Barcham. We met on the Cashmere bus. Our first conservation had
Pat tell me he had just had his 60th birthday. His next comment was,
``I climbed Mount Rolleston at the weekend.’ I likely met Pat previously at a
colleague’s function but that bus ride is my vivid first acquaintance. Pat
recently commemorated his 86th birthday. So our friendship has
spanned 26 years.
These days we regularly walk from Victoria Park to the
Sign of the Kiwi for coffee and a chat. We go up the Harry Ell trail and detour
onto a plateau for a great mountain view. We pause at the `Hillary table.’ It
is so-called because some years ago I briefly met Ed Hillary there. He was greeting
walkers.
Torlesse from Hillary Table.
In past years Pat and I went mountain goating, mostly
above Arthur’s Pass. He chatted a lot about his former climbing companion, Fred
Hollows. Stories about Fred were memorable. Pat, himself, is modest. But he did
chat about his own alpine achievements – summiting Aoraki Mt Cook six times.
Switzerland’s Matterhorn and an Himalayan expedition, searching for the
abominable snowman, with Ed Hillary among others.
Conversations are easy to come by. We frequently ask
if we could repeat the efforts of years gone by. We would drive to Arthur’s
Pass, do our intended climb then drive home. Energetic days. One day we
summited Avalanche Peak then traversed a narrow ridge over Mt. Lyell, then to
Bealey where we arrived at 6 pm. luckily it was daylight saving, so no issues
in descending to the township. We had also climbed on the Torlesse Range (Castle
Hill Peak) bordering the Canterbury Plains.
Next up is the Very Reverend Lawrence Kimberley, dean of the Anglican Transitional Cathedral. A pleasant person, Lawrence is a keen supporter of the New Zealand World Peace Bell. He willing contributes to our many events. I look forward to his viewpoint. At an UN Holocaust Day event where many speakers recalled difficulties growing up Jewish, Lawrence Kimberley spoke of the Christian view where we are all created by God. Therefore we are equal and have no need to get involved in conflicts as Jewish people infamously did. I was impressed, so when I invited him to participate in our Hiroshima Day – 75 years on commemoration I challenged him to speak about the Hiroshima bombing from a Christian point of view.
Again, he was perceptive. He said the principal religions say we are created in the image of God. It is when we lose sight of that, we can get into violent conflict. He went on to say people, frequently from different countries, look different from ourselves. We need to respect different cultures and understand them in an effort to exist in harmony. He frequently appears to be speaking personally rather than presenting an Anglican Church view. A little over a year ago I had a short hospital stay owing to a ``small’’ stroke. A woman in the ward introduced herself as a hospital chaplain. Could she chat to me? I agreed stating, ``I am a lapsed Anglican. I went on to tell her I knew the Anglican Dean, Lawrence Kimberley, quite well and how he supports the New Zealand World Peace Bell. She wanted to know about the world peace bell so we had quite a conversation about that. She was interested.
She then told me she represented the Church of
England. She then told me, ``I don’t think you are a lapsed Anglican.’’ I felt
good about that.
Finally here I include my nephew, Chris Sinclair. Or ``Crazy Chris’’ as one of his bike mechanics confided. Chris is an avid mountain biker. If he crashes and breaks a bone, that’s acceptable. If he breaks his bike, that’s not.
Years ago Chris was working towards an engineering
degree. It wasn’t going well. He concluded his future would be working as a
teacher, something that didn’t appeal. His parents were teachers.
``Two teachers in the family were enough,’’ he
reasoned. So he followed an interest in music recording. It was new at the time
offered an uncertain career–as his father relentlessly pointed out. A shift to
Glasgow in Scotland (his wife’s home) had him involved with sound mixing for
movies and television productions. The technical aspects challenged but he mostly
enjoyed the creative side of the occupation.
Returning to live in Christchurch, he continued his
film work, creating his own studio. With director, Gerard Smythe, his worked on
``When a City Falls,’’ about the 2010/2011 Canterbury earthquakes. I saw the movie in a small theatre in Picton
and strained my eyes so as not to miss his name in the credits. Turned out
Chris Sinclair was in large type so I couldn’t miss it. He became involved in
many more projects, including a well-received documentary about motor racing
legend, Bruce McLaren. More recently, his contacts had him sound mixer for the
BBC television production, Luminaries, based on the Booker Prize winning book
by Eleanor Catton. Chris reported a difficulty in placing microphones in the
necessarily flamboyant costumes. Voices were muffled and had to compete with
the sounds of boisterous insects, crickets in particular.
Life continues with Chris saying he is ``insanely’’
busy. He has two ambitious daughters. Lauryn Sinclair, studying Political
Science and International Relations at University of Canterbury, has worked
with refugees and asylum seekers and champions their causes. She is also
familiar with Humanitarian Law. She wrote a recent story critical of the
British Government breaking international law when stopping refugees reaching
Britain. It came to a head when a Sudanese boy, aged 10, died when attempting
to cross the English Channel.
I will invite Lauryn as a special guest to ring the
New Zealand World Peace Bell. I suspect I might be Lauryn’s great uncle?
NZ. World Peace Bell
