. . . but first, a very sad duty to perform in bringing you news of the funeral arrangements for the great Denis Kevans. Perhaps you heard the tribute from Mike Botham on this station over the weekend – good on you Mike. My turn now, most reluctantly – and Suzanne Reaney will also broadcast a piece about Denis this afternoon on her programme after 2.00pm.
It was just one week ago, after coming off the air last Tuesday, that I received news of Denis’s passing, at about 3.20 am that morning. Denis Kevans was one of those writers with the real writer’s gift - that of blending images and emotions to create a self-evident and unarguable impression. He was widely known and loved by people here in the mountains – but also around the world. A quick Google search last week provided pages and pages of references for Denis – I think I stopped after about 12 pages of site links. Apart from his natural tendency towards encouragement for writers who needed a helping hand he was admired, too, for his uncompromising commitment to his own principles – something I found very inspiring in this age of spin and compromise. I have no doubt that his Poets of the Parakeet Group will carry on, and the next meeting will be a sad one but packed out, I’ll bet (it’s on Monday Sept 12th, by the way, at the Parakeet Café in Katoomba at 7.00 pm and I understand that Denis’s good friend, Denis Rice, is going to take on the organisation for the group).
In a moment, I’m going to replay, by way of tribute to Denis Kevans, part of a conversation he and I had on this program last December – and then we’ll hear one of Denis’s own recordings followed by the best song I know of internationalism, by Dick Gaughan. But first let me give you some details, if you’d like to attend Denis’s funeral and Wake on Saturday. The service will be at Leura Memorial gardens at 10.30 am this Saturday, and then there’ll be a wake in Blackheath, at the Ivanhoe Hotel….. In December last year, Denis joined me in the studio to talk about his new recording with Sonia Bennett and Loosley Woven; his regular Parakeet poetry gathering; and the release the previous evening of the book he edited, Gallimaufry; – in this interview you’ll hear how this unassuming man was always ready to give credit to others. Let’s hear it again now, with Denis reading one of his poems, and then singing another, as we remember the voice of this great poet for the world.
No coincidence at all that I finished that tribute to Denis Kevans with Denis speaking to you from the left speaker on your stereo! It was Dick Gaughan singing the great anthem for internationalism by Hamish Henderson, The Freedom Come All Ye – and how fitting to be able to play that for Denis Kevans, whose words, as I was reminded last week by our mutual friend, Dale Turner, were written for all people, for all time. Before that we heard Denis singing his great poem Moss’s Gentle Fingers in concert with Sonia Bennett & Loosely Woven from the CD Fogs is the Problem – and first up was Denis in conversation on this program last year and reading his poem The Anzacs’ Incense.
Now, repeating those details from earlier – Denis will be fare welled for the last time at the Leura Memorial Gardens this Saturday at 10.30am. And if you’re a member of the Parakeet Poetry Group or Blackheath Folk Club, and you’d like to form part of a Guard of Honour for Denis, please be at the Gardens by 10.00 am. Then, after the funeral, there’ll be a Wake at the Ivanhoe Hotel in Blackheath – has anyone alerted the Police? I reckon they’ll have to close the Gt Western Hwy for that, if the numbers are comparable to those at the Sydney Wake on Sunday at The Gaelic Club. I’ve been asked to request that people going to the Ivanhow Wake bring a food plate, to help with the catering, such a large numer is expected.
Now, one final thing to tell you – you can post a tribute to Denis Kevans at photoswordspeople dot com, and there’s a link from the home page – have a read of the tributes there already, and then you can email me yours, if you wish, and I’ll post it on receipt. You can hear that tribute to Denis again at the web page and you’ll also find Denis’s lovely poem Mend The Torn Air– all about the power of nature and natural things to heal, even in times of destruction – which was what Denis was all about, of course. Vale Denis Kevans – and what a privilege to have known him.
Well, what a sad but splendid day it was for Denis Kevans on Saturday – well, actually, not sad really. Lots of tears and very moving, but in many ways it was a happy day really, as Martin Doherty observed at the Wake in The Carrington. Denis is free at last from the suffering his heart problems were giving him, all his friends turned out to acknowledge his greatness in an ideal setting and he leaves a wonderful legacy of work for us all.
Several hundred people were at the Leura Memorial Gardens and it was without doubt the most moving and beautiful funeral service I’ve ever attended. It mixed dignity, tears, music, speech and laughter in perfect proportions with the principle cultures which absorbed Denis’s life (Australian, Irish and Greek) all represented - I Yessu Imimi, said Tasso Tzioumis for the Greek people there. And the theme of Denis’s life and poetry rang through it all like a clarion call – the mystical beauty inherent in the interconnection of everyone and everything. His daughter Sophia’s dignified eulogy inspired us all, along with voice recordings by Denis and some wonderful sung and spoken tributes from Jack Mundey, Martin Doherty (who sang the Ballad of Joe Hill), Margaret Fagan, The Duffys, Wyn Jones and Sonia Bennett. The poet Milton Taylor performed the Master of Ceremonies role impeccably and spoke the words of committal with the haunting Planxty air, The West Coast of Clare, playing softly. It was, as Yvonne Helmers pointed out, one of those defining mountains moments. People spontaneously reached for each other when their emotions overtook them and it evoked that unique Blue Mountains sense of living among a big family of friends.
Then came the Wake at The Carrington, with a feast of poetry, music and tributes and a real sense of a moment of history in the making. Many warm wishes to Sophia and all the organizers for creating an event of such power and dignity. Not half a bad organiser himself, Denis would have been watching with approval. Many thanks, too, to Mick Ticehurst of the Gazette for the generous space he gave for Denis Kevans in last week’s edition; and to Mark Jarvis and all at The Carrington for hosting the Wake with such finesse. As Mark said to me, the atmosphere in the Carrington’s Ballroom was simply spine tingling. A final farewell to Denis, from this programme, now.
The great Denis Kevans poem, The Beauty of the World. And that’s on the double CD Fogs is the Problem, recorded with Sonia Bennett and Loosely Woven.