Dame Margaret Clark

I was never taught by Dame Margaret Clark, but almost everyone I know was. She was a legend in the VUW Politics Department and beyond.

Jon Johansson writes:

It is hard talking about losing someone you love, but today I will because a great and wise New Zealander, Dame Professor Margaret Clark, died on Friday.

She was my teacher, colleague, mentor, confidant, partner-in-crime, marriage witness, one of my pillars and dearest friend. …

Her introductory course, POLS 111 (and its forerunner POLS 110 for we oldies) was an institution up the hill at Vic. Margaret is a legend to thousands of us.

I recall so many stories, especially about the lectures later in the day when Margaret may have had a wine at lunch, and would be even more to the point.

One of my Beehive colleagues Gus – one of four of us in Minister Peters’ office who took POLS 111 with Margaret – told me on news of her passing: “Margaret believed everyone must have a grounding in Aristotle. In teaching generations of practitioners – peers, politicians and public servants – she instilled in New Zealand’s body politic the wisdom of the ancients.”

Alas far too few young people today learn about Aristotle.

Margaret’s legend status inside political circles meant that MPs always accepted invitations to talk to our 350 first year politics students, a tradition we maintained when I joined her in what Margaret described as our “Punch and Judy” routine.

Margaret would get everyone from the Prime Minister down into her classes.

A brilliant young Margaret Clark was herself quite a catch – courted early by an All Black – but she once told me in her understated way that she did have a small place in our political history. She claimed responsibility for the Maoist movement collapsing.

How so? Well, there were only two self-declared Maoists left in the 1960s, but they duked it out at the bottom of Cable Car Lane in a fight to win over Margaret’s affection. “I split the Maoist movement Jon.”

Heh.