Thank you for journeys with us
I want to acknowledge three departures. The first is our dear friend Benny K. F. Leung (梁國勳), who very kindly offered 20 years ago to be _Lucire_ ’s pointman in Hong Kong and to list his address for any enquiries. Benny passed away recently, nearly making his century, which is quite fitting for a cricket supporter.
Benny’s connections were through my father, as his employer at Ngai Shing Machinery Co. Ltd. in the 1970s, and the two men remained good friends who spoke regularly well into the 2010s, until my father lost his speech from dementia. Team members might remember the mini PC at head office in the 2000s—that was a gift to the business from Benny. He was a keen technologist and historian, putting together CD-ROMs and websites on Chinese history. I spoke with Benny often, even from Dad’s hospital ward the night before he passed, and most recently in 2023. Our thoughts go to his family, especially to his son Leon.
We pay tribute to Douglas Cruickshank, our guest correspondent who wrote from Uganda earlier this decade. Doug also had dementia in his last years, but had good care in Kampala, where he passed away. He wound up in Uganda after selling his home in California in 2009 and joined the Peace Corps. After his term there, he realized Uganda was his real home, and he married and started a family. Doug’s legacy includes Omughisa Rwenzori, the community development society.
We had lost touch but I was saddened to read this weekend of the 2023 passing of Susan Bartel, who was very much part of the fashion scene in Wellington in the 2000s and often the life of the party. A US transplant, Susan had modelled in Seattle in the 1960s, and was the National Library’s PR guru when I met her. I still remember September 12, 2001 (due to time zones, that was when we experienced 9-11) and how dazed we all were—especially Susan, who tried to host an event for the Wellington Fashion Festival that evening. My thoughts go to her partner Lorraine and to their whānau.
_Jack Yan is founder and publisher of_ Lucire.
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