PAPAPUKAPUKA NGĀ PĀNUI • NOTICEBOARD • BOOKS
WORDS: M A RI A N NE T R E MA I N E
Love is in the air Books exploring love in its many forms Because different people care about different things, the books in this column deal with the love and affection felt for places, activities and objects. For example, Tableland: The History Behind Mt Arthur, Kahurangi National Park, by Ray Salisbury (Potton & Burton, $59.99), details the history of the people who have been involved with the dramatic landscape of the Tableland. Ray’s strong family ties to the area have encouraged his thorough overview of people who have been part of the history and his commitment to making the book one that allows the reader to experience the Tableland for themselves. Ray is a professional photographer and writer and a keen tramper, which explains why the photographs in this book are so exceptional. You can feel the cold of the mountains and imagine yourself standing in the landscape. His historical research has been thorough and his maps show the relationships between the landmarks in different parts of the Tableland as he takes you
52 Kōanga • Spring 2021
through changes in tramping huts, fascinating natural features such as the caves, and the varied occupations practised here over the years, such as goldmining, grazing and hunting. This is an absorbing book – so much so that you feel you should be reading it in your bush shirt because it almost feels like being there.
Sometimes intense commitment to an activity can border on obsession, as it was for New Zealand aviator and horticulturist Oscar Garden. His fascination with flying was so intense that he bought a plane at Selfridges, the London department store – before learning how to fly. As his daughter Dr Annamaria Garden writes in her biography, Oscar Garden: A Tale of One Man’s Love of Flying (Mary Egan Publishing, $45), Garden immediately named his new Gipsy Moth Kia Ora and decided to fly from England to Australia. When he succeeded – after learning to fly – he was the fifth
person to navigate the journey solo, and the youngest of the five. Garden began working for British Airways, later becoming the Chief Pilot for TEAL, the New Zealand airline. He introduced the idea of employing nurses as stewardesses, recognising their competence in dealing with passengers’ health emergencies. However, he resigned later because of a disagreement with management. A tale of one man’s passion, Oscar Garden’s story also provides information on the way in which aviation developed in New Zealand.
In Me, According to the History of Art (Massey University Press, $65), Dick Frizzell writes about his life in art in a novel way. Dick tries to make sense of himself as an artist by taking readers on a trip through art history at what feels like breakneck speed. The text is written in a relaxed, conversational tone. Dick copies the artworks he needs to show his readers to illustrate his place in art history and what has influenced him. He considers the history of art to be a serious business because it’s “the story of my life and yours”. His tone seems irreverent, but this is at least partly because he does not want people to feel distanced from art. He wants them to begin to look and trust
their ability to see what is there, rather than feeling awed and ignorant. He says, “The idea that art helps us to keep ‘seeing’ the world anew (and hence continuing to value it) is probably my bottom line.” After a frenzied trip through the more distant past, Dick shows you some of his own work so you can see where art history has taken him. I was particularly impressed with his 1987 painting, The Magpies Say. The magpies are set against the broken-down farm of Denis Glover’s The Magpies poem. Going on an art tour with Dick Frizzell is definitely to be recommended. You can always have a coffee break halfway through, or come back for a second or third viewing.
The next book tells the story of a very important teddy bear. My Name is Henry Fanshaw: The True Story of New Zealand’s Bomber Squadron, written by Gillian Torckler and illustrated by Adele Jackson (Bateman Books, $24.99), introduces Henry Fanshaw, the mascot of the RNZAF’s No. 75 Squadron. Before his retirement to Wigram Air Base, Henry lived a very adventurous life. He remembers the London Blitz and the bombing of Cologne. He also tells the story of a particularly courageous squadron member who crawled out onto the wing
Heritage New Zealand
