In the 1960s the French were testing atomic weapons in the Pacific. Maurice Shadbolt published his novel Danger Zone. I made designs for flags based on babies bottles, milk jugs, all vessels that would eventually carry the contaminated beverage we would feed our children. The flags were never to be seen....at the time we were in a hurry to stop the fiasco so domestic flags never made it up the mast. They have however survived in a couple of collections, printed on brown paper.

My father went along with my mad schemes. He did the printing for me. I like to think he felt- thought- we might make a difference. He spent his time as a soldier during WW2 collecting shells, learning to dance the hula with people he admired and felt were worth dancing with. The only story he told me later on his return was the despair he felt being one of the soldiers to apprehend an American deserter and delivering him to his death by execution. MDS. CNZM. 21.5.2021. Otama.