Sunday, 26 August 2007

Happy Birthday Heroes


The end of August calls for recognition of four world-changing New Zealanders:

Nancy Wake The White Mouse Nancy Wake was the Allies' most decorated servicewoman of WWII, and the Gestapo’s most-wanted person. They code-named her 'The White Mouse'. She led an army of 7,000 Maquis troops in guerrilla warfare to sabotage the Nazis. Born Wellington 30 August 1912, and currently lives in London.

Tex Morton: Boundary Rider Tex Morton lived a life of breath-taking achievement, attaining mastery, fortune and international fame as a recording star, stage artist, circus entrepreneur, Hollywood screen actor and world authority in hypnotherapy. He was a first original antipodean voice. Tex is a legend from the edge. Born Nelson 30 August 1916 (d 1983).

Janet Frame Edge of the Alphabet Novelist Janet Frame came from the peripheries of art and society, but her fictional explorations were into the interior. Her imaginings were the conjuring of experience, madness, dreams, identity and memory, into a coiled reality. She was twice short-listed for the Nobel Prize and was rated with Franz Kafka and Virginia Woolf. Born Dunedin 28 August 1924 (d 2004)

Bruce McLaren Speedster Team McLaren drivers have taken the chequered flag at 154 Formula One Grand Prix events. Aucklander Bruce McLaren was a brilliant driver with vision. He became engineer, inventor, constructor, tester and created one of the greatest motor racing teams in history. Born Auckland 30 August 1937 (d 1970)

Their biographies on nzedge.com have collectively been accessed over 200,000 times www.nzedge.com/heroes.

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