Dame Cath Tizard

As a tribute to Dame Cath Tizard, whose death will be mourned throughout New Zealand, I recall a story I heard her tell about a visit she made to a primary school when she was (New Zealand’s first woman) Governor-General.

She asked a group of children at the school what they would like to be when they grew up. A number of answers were offered, and she then asked the question of one little boy who had stayed silent. He struggled to come up with an answer, so she asked him “Would you like to be Governor-General?” The little boy flushed and looked embarrassed. “Aw,” he said. “I’m not a girl!”

Bryan Gould
1 November 2021