Brian OPIE Obituary

Brian was an inspiration and a hero during my BA Honours year at Vic in 1992.

His intellectual rigour, his generosity, both with time and ideas, the intensity and passion he conjured up during class and outside it when discussing ideas close to his heart - I remember it all as if it were yesterday.

Brian was ahead of his time. It´s not an understatement to say that he changed my life that year and I imagine many other students would say the same.

Dear Anne, I have been away in China and only today learned of Brian´s untimely passing. I knew him through his tireless work for the NZ humanities and for his wonderful academic scholarly on literature and technology. My deepest condolences.

Brian was a true gentleman. We enjoyed our chats as neighbours as we developed our properties in Greytown. I will never forget the evening we had supper together at his place. It was just he and I. We had a great discussion over and after the meal. R.I.P. Brian.

Hello Anne, I've just heard of Brian's passing. I have very special memories of working with him at Vic in the early 2000s, and even better ones of the olives and your beautiful home. Brian will forever be characterised in my memory by his flailing arms, red hair, and excitement/exasperation. He was a brilliant, lovely and genuine person. My thoughts go out to you and all the family, who he loved to talk about more than anything else. Kylie Message.

Very sad news indeed. Brian was a longstanding and astute champion of the Alexander Turnbull Library. He made a tremendous contribution on many fronts.

My deepest condolences to the family. Brian Opie was the epitome of 'a scholar and a gentleman'. He supervised my PhD and I was inspired throughout by his incisiveness, his rigour, his wisdom, warmth and wit. Had it not been for him, I might have finished it much sooner because I simply did not want to stop.

Very sad to hear. My condolences to all his family. Brian was my Rennaissance Lit lecturer in 1988. Such a stimulating course and Brian was so kind and encouraging.

Anne
So sorry to hear of your sad loss. Brian was a wonderful kind and sympathetic man with whom you shared a mutually supportive life. Condolences to you and your family.

Our thoughts are with Anne and the rest of the Aiga. We worked with Brian with different hats on over the years. I particularly remember the TUANZ/HUMANZ discussion on the social and cultural implications of technology, an opportunity for town and gown to meet.

May his memory be a blessing for all who knew him.

Don Hollander & Julie Eberly

I took his Honours paper "Literature and Technology" back in 1998. He will forever be the scholar who introduced me to Hoban´s "Riddley Walker", the simulacra and Don Delillo!!! R.I.P Brian. My deepest condolences to the family.

Dear Anne,
I didn't even know that he was unwell or I'd have written to him. I first met him when he was involved in establishing an organisation to represent the Humanities and admired his selfless dedication, his passion for our disciplines, and his seemingly indefatigable energy and optimism. I also knew him when we both served on the Turnbull Library Endowment Trust. We didn't always agree but I never doubted his integrity, his commitment, or his abiding loyalty to a vision of the research library's importance to the nation's life. I wish I'd visited you on the olive orchard, if that's the right term, as I imagined another Brian happily cultivating the soil and experimenting with the endless variety of olives. No such luck sadly. I'm sure you'll miss him terribly but be comforted in the knowledge that with the help of his family he lived a life that many of us greatly admired. A mighty totara has fallen.

My sincere condolences to Brian's family. A wonderful warm, humble and wise human being, it was a real privilege to know him a short while, when I joined ATLET in 2018. May he rest in peace now and the joy of your memories with him sustain you. Arohanui, Margaret.

Dear Anne. My sincere condolences to you and the family. I am sorry to hear that Brian has died. Some people you just expect to keep on keeping on. I got to know Brian while we were both on the Alexander Turnbull Library Endowment Trust and I greatly respected him for his ideas and his integrity - he argued strongly for the things that actually matter. I am sure it was a frustrating experience for him and at times he must have felt like a lone voice echoing in the wilderness. I learned a lot from Brian and he was always very nice to me which i appreciated. A huge loss for you.
me te aroha tino nui atu. Judith Fyfe