I am out walking with our dog Sasha. “Kia ora!” I say cheerily to a woman approaching me. She notices me with a slight double-take, removes her ear buds. “Sorry – what was that?’ she asks. “Um – just hello – lovely day” I say lamely. “Oh. Hi” she says, reinserting the ear buds. “Sorry…
Continue reading →October 2017 was not a good month for me. First I dislocated my ankle and broke the surrounding bones in three places. Then the subsequent ankle surgery had major complications, and I ended up in the Intensive Care Unit on a respirator following seizures and fluid on the lungs and brain. Now, thank goodness, I…
Continue reading →One of many useful resources from Te Wiki o te Reo Māori (Māori language week) is this user-friendly online quiz put out by Newshub, described as the “100 words and phrases the Ministry of Culture and Heritage says every New Zealander should know.” Have a go! But let’s not succumb to either shame, if…
Continue reading →When someone, particularly a politician, does something wrong, why is it that we sometimes judge their actions harshly, and sometimes leniently? It seems to me that passing judgement implicitly involves considering questions like “is the action legal?”, “is the action socially acceptable?” and “is the action fair and morally justifiable?” And then we overlay an…
Continue reading →On International Women’s Day I spoke on a panel with Dame Susan Devoy and Melissa Clark-Reynolds on the topic “being the best we can be” at a function hosted by Kapiti Chamber of Commerce and Kapiti Rotary . Here is my speech: Ki ngā maunga, ngā awa, me ngā tāngata whenua hoki o te rohe…
Continue reading →If you are eligible to vote in the US elections, please vote for Hillary Clinton on Tuesday – because the stability of the whole world may depend on it. I don’t usually make party-political statements, not in my own country of New Zealand nor globally, however, like many non-Americans, I am feeling worried and somewhat…
Continue reading →Who benefits most from Aotearoa New Zealand’s founding document, the Treaty of Waitangi? It is those of us who are non-Māori, because it is through the Treaty that we have the right to be in this land. Furthermore, the treaty is an integral part of our collective identity. Earlier this year I was privileged to…
Continue reading →With a 12 year old son at home, seeing “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” was not optional. And yes, I admit it, despite the paper-thin, deja vu plot I did kind of enjoy it – especially sassy Rey and very human Finn. Oh but the messaging. Need a miracle? Try violence. Because while violence is…
Continue reading →We should have been celebrating a 21st birthday this month, but it wasn’t to be. In 1994, our baby boy Robin died in utero at 20 weeks from heart failure caused by severe Noonan’s Syndrome. Some months later, my composer sister Susan Frykberg recorded my story, from which she created a six-minute long composition for…
Continue reading →Thursday April 2 was my last day as Executive Director of Todd Foundation, and here is my farewell speech: *** It is hard to know what to say in a farewell speech. There are hundreds or thousands of people I could or should thank – but that would take a long time and be somewhat…
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