Draft 2 PhD Introduction - ResearchSpace@Auckland

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good”. 260 Their attitude was typical of other parents at the time in a country where few
people made a living working in the arts.
Bridget Ikin, who not only worked with Vincent on Vigil but also knows him as a
personal friend, thinks that despite his parents’ misgiving, they were supportive: “From
an early age, he [was] brought up to believe he was very special”. She cites as evidence
the fact that a letter which his father wrote him was addressed to “My dear Fellini”, and
that when his parents were on the set of Vigil, she felt that “they absolutely believed in
his talent, that there was a special person amongst them […], maybe even a God-given
talent […]. They were all religious in different ways […] and they thought he was an
amazing, special person”. In her view, his sisters were also “very protective of him and
his talent”. 261
Some of Ward’s traits as an adult surprised his family. Marianne says of her brother’s
methods of working:
One of the things that really staggered me when he was staying with us in
Wellington was just how calmly he would negotiate with people and the sorts of
pressures that you have in that sort of role. But he stayed calm. He was very
good with the children […]. He has an amazing capacity to actually cope with
pressure […]. It’s not as if he came from a home where anyone else was
actually living under those sorts of pressure. I think if you come from a home
where people are managing directors of large firms […], they’ve learnt those
sorts of things. But Vincent didn’t get it from home. It’s innate.
However, other traits can be attributed to his family. Marianne describes Ward as “by
nature a serious person”, like the rest of the family. “We all take our work seriously and
our life quite seriously. I think that’s a characteristic of all of us”. She attributes this
trait as coming from her father, who worked seven days a week on the farm and her
mother, who “did her best to be a very good mother. So I suppose that’s how we grew
up […]. We’re all a group of perfectionists”. 262
260 Lynette Read, interview with Judy Ward, 15 April 1999.
261 Lynette Read, interview with Bridget Ikin, 27 September 1999.
262 Lynette Read, interview with Marianne Chandler, 1 October 1999.