This is a post to remember a passionate New Zealand with a sound sense of fairness and pragmatism. Celia passed away on Monday after a battle with pancreatic cancer. I had the fortune of meeting Celia a decade or so ago. I was a teacher at an all boys high school when she produced her book "Hell Be OK: Growing Gorgeous Boys into Good Men". She underwent a year of promotion and that included a night in Hamilton.
I can remember being very impressed with both her style and substance. It wasn't until recently with the publicity of her passing that I have found that Celia was the first female prison guard in a all male prison. I think that is a strong indication of her determination. And I think that seeing the result (prison) of neglect in the raising of kiwi boys was a key motivation for her.
The key thing that I remember of Celia's presentation was that she described how in NZ we wrap our boys up in cotton wool. That is that risk is removed from adolescence (no climbing trees or bullrush etc). And that the first time that a lot of young kiwi boys get to risk things solo is behind the wheel of a car. This resonated extremely strongly with me as I was lucky to survive a crash into a river when I was 19. She was describing much of what my childhood had been like. I've checked our staff section of the library and seen that we have no copy of her books. I've ordered one.
This post was just simple to remember one of the good ones.
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