After enduring chronic illness for many decades, Dennis passed away peacefully at 11:10pm (AEST) on Tuesday the 13th of June.
Dennis was born in 1943 and was an example of “some people DID know better back then”. He was curious, funny, fiercely intelligent, committed to social justice, and fairly often the world had to catch up with him. He didn’t laugh at sexist and racist jokes, he didn’t find them funny. He was a career diplomat, a former Ambassador to China, and he wrote the first speech in the Australian Parliament that talked about human rights. He was prone to bursting into spontaneous made-up songs. He has a wikipedia page that shows his high level accomplishments as valued by our dominant society.
Illness ended his career early, but, when the spoons allowed, he did all sorts of things to help make the world a more interesting, decent or nuanced place. Lawns did not survive his presence; they inevitably turned into suburban food forests. He was a prolific diarist and contributed to quite a few blogs. He was a husband, dad, grandad and uncle to many, and he will be deeply missed.
If you’d like to do something in his memory please watch a movie that challenges your thinking (bonus points if there are subtitles).
He never wanted a funeral, so we’re exploring different ways we can celebrate his life and enjoy things he enjoyed.
If you have ideas to share or would like to come to a happening or two, please fill in this form.
A website dennis.argall.info will also soon be live as a spot to post reflections about movies watched in dad’s memory.
You may be interested to read Dennis’ last article for Pearls and Irritations, published on 9 June, 2023. A full list of Dennis’ articles can also be found at his author page.
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