Hard News by Russell Brown

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Hard News: Fred

16 Responses

  • Doug Hood,

    nice one Russ

    Kingsland • Since Oct 2009 • 44 posts Report

  • nzlemming,

    Beautiful.

    Waikanae • Since Nov 2006 • 2937 posts Report

  • mark taslov,

    This is what the world needs right now.

    Te Ika-a-Māui • Since Mar 2008 • 2281 posts Report

  • Fiona Mckenzie,

    just what I needed - thank you

    Christchurch • Since Jun 2015 • 16 posts Report

  • JacksonP,

    Beautiful Russ. This post feels like hope. Thank you.

    Auckland • Since Mar 2011 • 2450 posts Report

  • Angela Hart,

    Thanks Russell

    Christchurch • Since Apr 2014 • 614 posts Report

  • Deep Blue,

    Well said Russ.
    Your story just made the world seem a better place, thank you.

    Te Awamutu • Since Sep 2014 • 12 posts Report

  • John McCormick,

    Thanks Russell. In a time when there seems to be so much bad stuff around, it's important to recognise the good when it happens.

    Auckland • Since Sep 2014 • 18 posts Report

  • Russell Brown, in reply to JacksonP,

    Beautiful Russ. This post feels like hope.

    That's what I felt, and what I wanted people to feel. I'm moved by the response across the various social platforms and feeling like it's a great tribute to a good man.

    We grumble sometimes about dreadful old people, but it's good to remember there are many more good people like Fred.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report

  • Venetia King,

    This sort of thing is why I keep up my subscription even though I haven't had much time to read Public Address for a while. Thank you for a little bit of light against the dark.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 117 posts Report

  • Shaun Lott,

    the basic goodness of people

    This is the thing we have to hold onto.

    Waitakere • Since Aug 2009 • 113 posts Report

  • David Bishop,

    Great post. The comment about 'first strike' reminded me of two idiots I shared a house with in Hawera during 1985. There was a lot of hot air at the time about Mt Egmont being renamed Taranaki, with some people claiming it was the thin end of a wedge that was going too far to accommodate Maori wishes, etc, etc.

    Being part of metropolitan elite from Auckland [well, mostly Mt Roskill which was hardly elite turf in the 1980s], I kept out of such arguments. One day I discovered one of the other guys in the house was keeping a loaded shotgun under his bed as he expected civil war to break out at any moment. If the Maori came for him in the night, he planned to take as many of them with him as possible.

    Knowing better than to argue with a brain-dead drongo armed with a loaded shotgun, I made arrangements to move out ASAP. No great moral to the story, simply pointing out bell-end racists have always been with us [more's the pity]. The net just gives them the chance to mouth-breathe their fuckwitted stupidity at everyone, when it used to restricted to hotel bars.

    Scotland • Since Jun 2015 • 3 posts Report

  • Mike O'Connell,

    Lovely story Russell.

    Christchurch • Since Dec 2006 • 385 posts Report

  • Chrys Berryman,

    ....a great antidote to all the "othering" in the current narrative about Muslims

    Pt Chevalier • Since Sep 2014 • 16 posts Report

  • WaterDragon,

    Thank you for this Russell. Its so so good to hear and give honour to the many generosities of spirit that were in your story: not just Fred but all of those others too. When the story "sings" for me, as this did, is special.

    Behind you • Since Jul 2011 • 79 posts Report

  • Russell Brown, in reply to WaterDragon,

    Its so so good to hear and give honour to the many generosities of spirit that were in your story: not just Fred but all of those others too.

    Cheers, and thanks for saying so. I included Sam quite consciously, in that he represented his own kind of difference. My sons used to play with him back in the day and I actually didn't even recognise him from then, until Shane pointed it out.

    The other thing I've been thinking about since I wrote the post is that Fred and Trish and Malik and his family lived in a neighbourhood. It's a little village, that cluster of townhouses tucked in under the motorway – and I think the story shows how important that can be.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report

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