An Unsurpassed Thrill (in Porirua East, July 1969)
| WHAT AN UNSURPASSED THRILL TO BE IN A KITCHEN OR WASHING OR WRITING A GROCERY LIST AND TO BE SPARED TO HEAR THE THRILL OF THE CENTURY TO KNOW THAT MAGNIFICENT MAN HAS LANDED ON THE MOON ITS CERTAINLY SOMETHING TO BE A 1969 HOUSEWIFE = DORIS HUSSEY BEDFORD ST PORIRUA EAST + July 21 1969 50 years ago ‘magnificent man’ landed on the moon. This wondrous event spared Doris Hussey, a housewife from Porirua East, New Zealand from the tedium of her everyday domestic chores. The thrill she experienced was so great that she decided to share her experience with the wider New Zealand public. Despite that telegrams would mostly become relegated to media history only a decade later, it was thanks to the humble telegram in 1969 that Doris’ message endured. Doris’ unsurpassed thrill was published on page 18 of the Evening Post (Wellington, NZ), dated Monday July 21, 1969. This edition was collected by my great aunty Leah, carefully stored away and then handed onto me a few years ago. As I scoured through the paper I discovered Doris Hussey’s simple but powerfully disturbing statement. Although Doris did not intend it to be (or perhaps she had…), I read her telegram as a call to action. A reminder that even as technology continues to sweep us along, making all manner of things possible on this earth and beyond, that we must not forget that real progress is when all people are empowered and enabled to imagine, partake in, and achieve the same dreams. Lisa Clunie |
