#113: Seddon Bennington, 1948 – 2009 - Brian Sweeney, Magazine

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Edge Message #113 from Brian Sweeney, producer NZEDGE.COM

Pictured above: Zane Lowe, Lt. Col. Jeremy Ramsden, Simon O’Neill, Jerry Collins, Stuart Parker

New Zealand headlines in this week’s sampling of global media appearing in The Independent, Sky News, Classic FM, Radio Australia, NME, Telegraph, Guardian, Edmonton Sun, San Francisco Weekly, Star Gazette, San Francisco Examiner, All That Jazz, Islands, Dwell and WA Today include:

• Zane Lowe, DJ, 35, piloting “radio with pictures” for BBC’s Radio 1 – The Independent
• All Blacks win first in Bledisloe, Tri Nations series vs. Wallabies 22-16 – Guardian
• Scott Dixon, 28, Indy star, “driver to catch” ahead of Edmonton race – Edmonton Sun
• Seddon Bennington, 61, Te Papa CEO, dies in his beloved Tararuas – WA Today
• Saffron, Queenstown, at forefront of homegrown produce “revolution”
• New Zealand tourists 14th best in the world and 6th ‘stingiest’, according to Expedia travel survey
• Simon O’Neill, 37, opera singer, among the world’s top 10 tenors – Classic FM
• Warwick Freeman, Auckland jeweller and artist, exhibiting latest collection in Melbourne
• Lt. Col. Jeremy Ramsden, awarded NZ’s first NATO Meritorious Service Medal at ceremony in Belgium
• Stuart Parker, dairy farming astronomer, discovers supernova – Radio Australia
• Ladyhawke plays Glastonbury crowds ahead of one-off UK charity gig – NME
• Pakiri Beach horseriding, a BBC ‘Unforgettable Thing To Do Before You Die’ – Examiner.com
• David Cone, Baa Blacks trainer, lets racing sheep loose in Methven – Telegraph
• Alka Patel, former process engineer, now gourmet pie baker, San Francisco – SF Weekly
• NZ String Quartet celebrate Haydn’s death with Ithaca performance, NY – Star Gazette
• Jerry Collins, back-rower, 28, swaps Toulon shirt for Welsh Ospreys – BBC
• Ford/Tipping/Wise Trio’s latest jazz album “impressively creative” – All That Jazz
• Waiheke, ranked 6th in 2009 list of ‘World’s Best Islands to Live On’ – Islands Magazine
• Andrew McKenzie, musician, creates “orchard jam” with new sustainable bachelor’s pad
• Queenstown and Wanaka, pitted against each other in deep south showdown – WA Today

SEDDON BENNINGTON, 1948 – 2009
A brief tribute to Seddon Bennington, CEO of Te Papa, the national museum and art gallery in Wellington, who died of hypothermia during a snow-hit tramping expedition in the Tararuas, along with friend Marcella Jackson, on July 14. Seddon was an outstanding New Zealander whose intellectual depth, engaging presence, and commitment to storytelling made him an ideal leader of Te Papa. I met Seddon in 1981 when he was Director of the City Art Gallery in Wellington, I was with the NZ Students’ Arts Council and we were producing a tour of Mervyn Thompson’s song play about Maori land rights, Songs to the Judges. It was a hair-raising tour in more ways than one – raw emotion on stage and off. Seddon was the perfect host, committed and calm. He went on to an international career in science museums and returned to New Zealand to lead Te Papa in 2003. A year or so ago I was on a selection panel he chaired, and saw him as a consensus leader in a challenging role, needing to balance scholarship with populism, local stories with global ones, authenticity with consumer engagement. That Te Papa has been the most visited museum in Australasia over the past five years is a fine statement of his leadership.

NGA KUPU AROHA: WORDS OF LOVE, #34, BY DENIS O’REILLY

An ongoing social commentary on the affairs of Aotearoa and the tribe of Nga Mokai.

THE STUB OF YOUR CHEQUE BOOK, JULY 2009

The D writes that it’s what is recorded on the stub of our national cheque book that indicates the relative value we put on issues. In the area of criminal justice, despite the Government’s stated commitment to ‘top of the cliff’ interventions rather than reliance on prison, “crush and crate ’em” is the flavour of the day. D praises the leadership of Dr Pita Sharples as Minister of Maori Affairs for getting ‘buy in’ from Maori street leaders towards a quest for peace on the streets of Aotearoa and for his advocacy of Maori learners getting access to tertiary education. There is korero about a possible spike in the availability of P, an account and reflection on the death and burial of Nomad’s leader Denis “Mossie” Hines, and celebration at the graduation of Te Rangatira Jack Tuhi “Ranga” from Massey University. (3,657 words) Read more.