Remembering A Brother
I’ve just embarked on a long delayed reading of “Older & Wiser: Essays 2002-2009” written by a brilliant international journalist and editor, my eldest brother, Frank Devine https://www.theguardian.com/theguardi... .
In his liftetime I never knew him well. I must have been about 8 or 9 when he left home in New Zealand to seek a career in Western Australia. Up until just before his departure he largely ignored me, as the youngest of the family, and he tended to treat me as the kid-brother even in my fifties and sixties. I’ll always remember, though not in detail, that one evening at our family home in Blenheim he came and sat on the side of my bed and had a long talk with me - lots of advice about my future.
This one on one, just before he went overseas, was unique. I grew to miss a brother I’d never really spent any time with.
He made infrequent visits to Blenheim (each of which the family treasured) and we made even less frequent visits to see him. In between his visits home, he widely spaced letters to our parents, the reading of which were major events. They brought a taste of cosmopolitan life to our small-town lives.
He was always accepted warmly as part of the family when he did return on visits. Now, reading his essays, I realise how little we knew about his other persona – then so foreign to our more limited experiences of life and adventure.
I’m taking delight in reading more, in his essays, about aspects of his life previously largely hidden from family in New Zealand, and find myself in increasing admiration and awe of his literary skills.
https://www.bookdepository.com/Older-...
In his liftetime I never knew him well. I must have been about 8 or 9 when he left home in New Zealand to seek a career in Western Australia. Up until just before his departure he largely ignored me, as the youngest of the family, and he tended to treat me as the kid-brother even in my fifties and sixties. I’ll always remember, though not in detail, that one evening at our family home in Blenheim he came and sat on the side of my bed and had a long talk with me - lots of advice about my future.
This one on one, just before he went overseas, was unique. I grew to miss a brother I’d never really spent any time with.
He made infrequent visits to Blenheim (each of which the family treasured) and we made even less frequent visits to see him. In between his visits home, he widely spaced letters to our parents, the reading of which were major events. They brought a taste of cosmopolitan life to our small-town lives.
He was always accepted warmly as part of the family when he did return on visits. Now, reading his essays, I realise how little we knew about his other persona – then so foreign to our more limited experiences of life and adventure.
I’m taking delight in reading more, in his essays, about aspects of his life previously largely hidden from family in New Zealand, and find myself in increasing admiration and awe of his literary skills.
https://www.bookdepository.com/Older-...
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