I lived with Sam at Tautuku in the 70's for a bit and saw him from time to time since then. He stayed with me in Wellington on an unusually long trip off the island about 10 years ago.

I started writing a long drivel about the funeral/memorial show. Suffice to say that there were plenty of local and a few 'foreign' people in the visitors centre to say 'See ya round' to Sam. Phil Garland's piece above was read out, along with a bunch of other emails and some speakers with some Sam stories. A great send off finishing with afternoon tea and the bar open (or at least that was the finish for me as I rushed off to catch the 5.30pm flight back to the mainland - I expect it was adjourned to the pub and carried on well into the night).

Sam's last wish was that his ashes be thrown into a brown paper bag and dragged behind Billy the Bus until the arse fell out of the bag and the ashes were spread from one end of the island's roads to the other. Unfortunately it's more likely they will be spread in a more seemly way around the road ends.

It's the end of an era.....