Memorial should be a source of inspiration

Comment by TERRY DUNLEAVY*

Herald columnist Brian Rudman and other protagonists in the wrangle over how best to remember Sir Peter Blake and his deeds are missing two vital points: the deeds themselves, and the need to inspire future generations.

I can recall my first visit to the Auckland War Memorial Museum as an 8-year-old Hamiltonian in 1936, when I saw for the first time the relics of what we knew in those days as the Great War.

History and reality came to life as I saw evidence that New Zealanders had fought and died at Gallipoli and in the muddy trenches of France. And then that great slab of marble with the names of the fallen.

That day ignited the spark of fierce nationalistic pride which has been such a part of my being ever since.

Fast forward to June 1982, when I first entered New Zealand House in London. I had met Inia Te Wiata in Samoa, where I was editing the weekly newspaper, in 1956 when he came to make a film, Pacific Destiny based on a book by Sir Arthur Grimble.

"Call me Happy," he said.

"How do you spell that, Hapi?" I asked.

"No, just plain Happy," he replied.

Suffice to say we got on so well that I was known among the film crew as "Happy's agent". We had many long talks about his early upbringing at Otaki, and under the tutelage of Apirana Ngata at Tikitiki, and his time at the freezing works in Horotiu, where he became a protege of Princess Te Puea. And of his times studying and singing in London and later performing at Covent Garden.

When it was decided to build New Zealand House at the bottom of the Haymarket in London - a prime location in a city in which Happy was ever grateful for taking him and his peerless bass voice to its heart - his response was as natural as it was immediate.

He carved a giant totara pouihi to stand in the foyer and soar four floors up, as a constant reminder that this corner of London would forever be a part of his beloved homeland.

My emotions let me down on that day in 1982. I left my travelling companions, went to the base of the pouihi and bawled my eyes out, as memories of Happy and our good times together came flooding back, overlaid by the whole New Zealand pride thing.

New Zealand House may be a huge glass-draped architectural monstrosity, but it is unique. It dominates that lower Haymarket corner, and it is ours. We must never part with it.

And there is a constant feature which binds that glasshouse to New Zealand - Happy's pouihi. No New Zealander can fail to be inspired by an encounter with its soaring magnificence. It was Happy's good fortune, and ours, that there was no one around at the time to carp on about carvings in glass coffins.

So what has this got to do with Sir Peter Blake? First, we need to remind ourselves that it is much more than a memorial to a remarkable man. Sir Peter is worthy of the pantheon reserved for such great internationally known New Zealand heroes as Anthony Wilding, Jack Lovelock, Edmund Hillary, Peter Snell, John Walker and Bob Charles.

My preference for his memorial has always been renaming the Viaduct Basin as Blake's Haven. I am well aware of the exigencies of commercial sponsorship these days, but I would hope that American Express would see added value in the linkage, when necessary, of the historic United States origins of its corporate name with the name of someone who will be forever regarded as a hero in New Zealand.

After all, without Peter Blake, it is unlikely there would have been facilities to sponsor.

But we honour the memory of Peter Blake equally as appropriately by ensuring that there is a permanent reminder of the historic events with which his name is indelibly linked: the capture and defence of the America's Cup.

Even so soon afterward, it still seems incredible that little New Zealand was not only able to emulate Australia in wresting the Auld Mug from its home after 24 unsuccessful challenges spanning 132 years but went one better than its big brother by defending the cup.

In years to come, that tale will grow to proportions matching those of Hillary's and Tenzing's conquest of Everest. Its capacity to inspire young New Zealanders will also grow, especially if there is a site that is most easily accessible to the greatest number. There, they can gaze upon the magic boat, and see pictures and stories of how the America's Cup was won and held, and thus gain clearer understanding of the significance of the leadership of Peter Blake.

If it is done with the flair and creativity proposed by the boat-in-a-glass showcase, I will be happy there will be an opportunity for my great-grandchildren and those who come after to be inspired by Peter Blake and his great deeds - as I was by our Great War heroes in the Auckland Museum, and Happy's pouihi in London.

Rudman and the other critics need to remember that what is being remembered is not just the life and deeds of Peter Blake, but also the crowning America's Cup successes which he led and inspired.

* Terry Dunleavy is a Takapuna writer.