Perspective with Heather du Plessis-Allan: New Zealand is duller without Sir Bob Jones

Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive

Very sad news this afternoon that Bob Jones has passed away.

It's not altogether a surprise – he was getting on in age, and he had been feeling unwell and slowing down for at least a couple of years.

But still, it is the passing of a great, colourful, larger than life character.

I can’t remember when I first met Bob, but I've known him for close to twenty years.

He was actually the first person I saw at my wedding on my wedding day... because he was leaving.

I was late —which frankly is a bride’s prerogative— but he was so cross at how late I was that he stormed out of the wedding, bumped into me outside, fortunately turned around and went back in.

And then afterwards, he gave me a rundown of the things he enjoyed and didn't enjoy about the wedding, inducing: could’ve kept the champagne and canapes going for longer and could've skipped the dinner.

He gave some pretty unusual life advice.

When I was pregnant with my son, we had dinner with Bob one night and he spent a long time telling me that my son would wear me out because boys are energetic, and that if I had a girl next I would probably think there was something wrong with her, and might want to take her to the doctor but there would be nothing wrong with her – boys are just more energetic than girls.

He was right of course.

Not everyone loves Bob. I know that. He was a polarising character, but he had something that many of us could learn from, and that was a wicked sense of humour.

He laughed a lot. He played pranks. He enjoyed mocking things he didn’t like.

He was incredibly wealthy, but not pretentious – e grew up in a state house in Naenae after all.

And he was very clever. Read anything he’s written – you’ll wish you could write like him.

I count myself lucky to have known Bob Jones.

He's one of those characters we seemed to have had a lot of in the 70s and 80s but don't seem to make nowadays.

As someone else said today: New Zealand is duller without him.

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