Obituary: Bill Owen

Bill Owen

* William (Bill) Owen, fisherman, author. Died aged 79

When William Owen moved his family to Great Barrier Island in the early 1950s, a catch of 300 fish in one trip was nothing out of the ordinary. Such a haul, however, led Owen to think of the long-term effects of over-fishing and converted him from a hunter to a protector of marine life.

This in turn led to his book, The Hauraki Gulf, in which he takes his reader cruising the gulf, all the while sharing his knowledge of its history, and his views on conservation.

The Owen family, with six children, spent 13 years on the island, a time of imperfect rustic simplicity. In the first few years, their sheep died in a storm and the launch was wrecked. But Owen was resilient. When his commercial lobster plant failed, he went back to sea to fish - the pressure of paying the bills now balanced against his concern for the marine environment.

Social life on Great Barrier was fraught with hazards, with feuding between communities and families. Owen found the role of chairman of the county council no easy task.

"Two types go there [Great Barrier] to live - those who want to clear out from a life they don't like, and others who clear out from a life on the mainland they cannot handle," Owen said in an interview in 1983.

"The don't likers are more likely to survive than the latter group because they have the strength of being individuals."

In 1967, with the children at schools around the mainland, Owen and his wife, Val, returned to Auckland.

Owen took a job at the Auckland Farmers' Freezing Cooperative but left after 10 years to become a full-time writer. His literary ambition had begun with his novel Tryphena Summer in 1974, a tale of settlers and sailors. The Hauraki Gulf was published in 1983, followed by The Northland Coast in 1984 and Bay of Plenty Coast in 1986. The Owens returned to the Barrier in retirement, and settled in Claris.

William Owen is survived by his wife, children Ted, Kerin, David, Deborah, Lindon and Penny, nine grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.