Overseas to Japan

Te Ao Hou, September 1964, Page 5

Overseas to Japan Although he served with the 16th Maori Battalion Reinforcements he did not go overseas with this unit. However he went to Japan, serving in the 2nd Divisional Cavalry in the British Commonwealth Occupation Force. After his return from Japan, Hone worked in various places. He spent several years in Wellington where, in 1949, he married Jean McCormack of Milford, Auckland. Their eldest son, eleven-year-old Rewi, was born in Wellington. There are two more boys, the twins Robert and Andrew, who were born at Mangakino. For the last ten years he has been working at his trade on the hydro-electric schemes at Mangakino and Matahina. Hone has been interested in poetry for most of his life. An early friendship with the poet R. A. K. Mason has, he says, had a big influence on his writing. A later encouragement came from his association with Noel Hilliard in Wellington and in Mangakino. Since he first appeared in print in ‘Landfall’ people will have seen his poems in various magazines, such as the ‘New Zealand Listener’, ‘Te Ao Hou’ and ‘Mate’. Audiences in Tauranga, Te Puke, Kawerau and Whakatane have heard Hone reading his own poems. He has given readings at Mangakino District High School, Ngata Memorial College and Te Puke High School. Whakatane Cine Club made a delightful series of slides shown to synchronize with spoken poems of Hone's. To hear and see this performance is a truly memorable experience.