Kiwi poet killed in Seattle

Dog refuses to leave side of dying Kiwi poet

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MARILYN BLACK / FACEBOOK

NZ poet Max Richards, pictured a week before he died crossing the road.

A New Zealand-born poet and academic has died after being hit by a car while crossing the road in his new hometown of Seattle, Washington.

Max Richards, 79, was walking his labrador Pink near his home in the city's Capitol Hill district when he was hit on a crossing by a car driven by woman in her 40s, and died that evening of his head injuries, according to local media.

The accident happened on September 21. Two days later Richards' wife Marilyn Black wrote a public Facebook post about how "in a space of a second, I lost my whole world. And the world lost a special human being".

MARILYN BLACK / FACEBOOK

Pink, the labrador who stayed by Max Richards' side after he was struck by the car.

Black wrote that when police returned Pink to their house, the officer told her the dog had refused to leave his master as he lay dying in the middle of the road, surrounded by a ring of cars and emergency services.

Richards, who was born in Auckland in 1937, was the son of schoolteachers and the grandson of AS Richards, a cabinet minister in the first Labour government. He studied English at Auckland University, and his poetry was widely published in New Zealand journals including Landfall and Islands, but in 1963 he left New Zealand, taking academic posts first in Edinburgh and then Melbourne, where he lectured in English until his retirement in 2005. His poetry was also widely published in Australia.

Two years ago he and Black, his second wife, moved to Seattle where she was pursuing post-graduate studies.

On Saturday Alan Roddick, fellow poet and Richards' friend for 60 years, said Richards often composed while walking the couple's two dogs, and his poetry was filled with observations of the life and the natural world of the streets and parks, as well as reflections on life and death.

"He was a very accomplished and prolific writer," said Roddick, "with a relaxed style which could also be sharp, witty, and touching."

In her Facebook post, Black said Richards' face had been serene as he died, which she linked to his "final vital experiences: a stunning Fall morning; a devoted family Labrador sharing fully in all his pleasures, and pains; and a circle of communion, holding his hand throughout the ordeal".

She thanked him for "two decades of purest joy", but asked: "How is it that he's not lying beside me on our bed tonight? The dogs and I can't fathom it. R.I.P. dearest beloved."

 - Sunday Star Times