This is just our from a professional cartoonist, London England
Friday, January 18, 2013
Alasandro Malaspina in NZ
Letter to the Southland Times January 13th 2013
The anti Tolkien Comments by Jack Murrell in your paper recently remind me of the bigotry surrounding John Hall Jones restoration of Spanish Place-names.
Everybody in authority here seemed to be against him restoring those historical Names to the Map of Doubtful Sound because they felt they just didn’t fit
Mr Hall-Jones had to make his case international before they eventually ruled in his favour and even when Fiordland Travel put on a special Bi Centenary cruise for the Spanish Landing it was boycotted by our local and National representatives, indeed my Wife & I ended up chatting to the Spanish ambassador most of the way as he had no one to talk diplomacy too.
And shame, the ODT did a full page colour Spread and put the Southland times to shame.
There are some similarities in this story John Hall Jones had one advantage Alassandro Malaspina was not an inspiration for the Movie Industry with all the pent up resentment that seems to bring out these days.
Interesting though, as yet those Spanish Names have so far evaded our popular culture, not being used in the Tourism Industry, Boats or street-names Tolkien’s names are there if you go looking, including inside the very Mountains of Fiordland. But he himself has never really been honoured.
Don’t mind me Uncle Jack, Like Dr John I am doing the right thing in the right place for the right reasons. History will be the Judge on March 28th.
The anti Tolkien Comments by Jack Murrell in your paper recently remind me of the bigotry surrounding John Hall Jones restoration of Spanish Place-names.
Everybody in authority here seemed to be against him restoring those historical Names to the Map of Doubtful Sound because they felt they just didn’t fit
Mr Hall-Jones had to make his case international before they eventually ruled in his favour and even when Fiordland Travel put on a special Bi Centenary cruise for the Spanish Landing it was boycotted by our local and National representatives, indeed my Wife & I ended up chatting to the Spanish ambassador most of the way as he had no one to talk diplomacy too.
And shame, the ODT did a full page colour Spread and put the Southland times to shame.
There are some similarities in this story John Hall Jones had one advantage Alassandro Malaspina was not an inspiration for the Movie Industry with all the pent up resentment that seems to bring out these days.
Interesting though, as yet those Spanish Names have so far evaded our popular culture, not being used in the Tourism Industry, Boats or street-names Tolkien’s names are there if you go looking, including inside the very Mountains of Fiordland. But he himself has never really been honoured.
Don’t mind me Uncle Jack, Like Dr John I am doing the right thing in the right place for the right reasons. History will be the Judge on March 28th.
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