Memé Churton is an ebullient and
colourful character who, in the course of her lifetime, witnessed the rise of
Fascism and became embroiled in the Communist Revolution. My old friend, former
colleague and publisher David Ling paid warm tribute to “an extraordinary story
about an extraordinary woman with a great zest for life”, when he launched her
memoir Memé: The Three Worlds of an Italian-Chinese New Zealander at a
crowded Gus Fisher Gallery on Wednesday evening.
David talked about Memé’s “almost
accidental visit to New Zealand in the early 1950s at the invitation of a New
Zealand soldier she had met briefly at the end of the war. Of her horror at the
lack of sophistication she found here compared with Trieste and Shanghai. Of
how she married her soldier and became friends with the literati and
intelligentsia of the day, and with prominent politicians and businessmen.”
Memé was also a vibrant influence in her own right, helping to transform New
Zealand culture in the areas of food, fashion, art and education and a very
popular member of the Auckland University staff teaching Italian language and
culture for almost 30 years.
As behoves Memé’s popularity, many
of her family, friends and former students were in the room, including Rene and
Michael Fisher, Rosie and Michael Horton, Roger and Shirley Horrocks, Professor
Nicholas Tarling and Gil Hanly. David made special mention of Memé’s good
friends Roger and Shirley Horrocks “who skilfully transcribed the tapes of her
life story that she had carefully recorded and to whom are all indebted.”
Roger Horrocks launches the book, David Ling in background
Meme addresses the gathering
Signing copies for her admirers
Meme with Michael & Rosie Horton
Michele Hewitson interview: Meme Churton
By Michele Hewitson
New Zealand Herald - Saturday Oct 20, 2012
The extraordinary memoir of an Italian-Chinese New Zealander is full of misery, miserliness and affairs. She arrived by flying boat in a land where houses smelled like mutton and cauliflower and women dressed badly.
She has always been beautiful, and exotic. She is half-Italian and half-Chinese and has lived, on and off, in New Zealand since the day she arrived here, by flying boat, at Evans Bay in Wellington, on December 21, 1950.
Read Michele Hewitson's intervew at the New Zealand Herald
1 comment:
2I met meme back in the 70ies when I was at Baradene-boarding with Meme's daughter Sandra. I stayed with Meme, Jock, Sandra and Jock's father for a weekend back then and they had a beautiful home on West Tamaki Drive. Meme was great and prepared beautiful meals and was a great hostess. I would love to catch up with mem and Sandra when i next visit NZ. Patricia Barlow SF
Post a Comment