Dear Moira -
So far as the use of 'video stuff' etc. is concerned, I think that the
great thing about the union between text and pictures (video or stills) is
that they add an element of 'show-me' to the textual narrative of
'tell-me'. And moving on to your anecdote, sometimes I think that the final
measure of a person is who turns up to the funeral and what gets said in
the pub afterwards. Your Chinese lunch seems to me to cover a sort of
version for the living, a summing-up for a community that has reached the
end of an era.
You know the story of my son Paul and his recovery from leukaemia and
subsequent volunteering with Greenpeace and his work as a climber on
'actions'. A few weeks ago, he went to see a Greenpeace mate who was
severely ill in hospital. Richard's subsequent death came as a great shock
to Paul because he had been pushing his vision for hope in terms of 'I
survived and so can you'. Two coachloads went from London to the funeral in
Yorkshire - a woodland burial attended by over 200; have a look at
<http://weblog.greenpeace.org/uk/archives/2007/01/in_memory_of_richard_wats
on.html>
If people say a fraction as much about me whenever the time comes, I shall
be satisfied.
- Pete
x
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--On 24 January 2007 18:04 +0000 Moira Laidlaw <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> Dear Bernie, Jack and everyone!
>
> I've been reading the recent responses to the video stuff and people's
> reactions to them with great interest, ... I've been thinking
> about the qualities of humanity represented by the utube presentations
> Jack compiled ... The work
> that you're doing, Jack, is really important in terms of finding ways to
> represent truths realistically, helpfully and authentically. I really
> like the way the visuals help us to clarify what it is we're trying to
> do and in the name of what.
>
...
> On Thursday last my colleagues took me for lunch in a really lovely
> restaurant and as we ate and drank toasts, they decided it would be a
> good game to say something about Moira! This is so Chinese. 'What
> enduring memory of Moira do we have?' the country-director asked. I
> suggested that my ability to leave the table pronto was a good one, but
> that was ignored!
>
> What was really fascinating to me, was the qualities they drew out had
> little to do with the quality of my work in terms of ideas, and almost
> all about the way they see me interacting with people and how I treat
> others. Each person told a personal anecdote that was, on the surface,
> trivial and yet not so.
> I offer this anecdote because it moves me, because it reveals what
> matters about being human.
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