Recently I listened to a live online interview given by Susan Eisenhower the granddaughter of the late President. She had written a book titled “How Ike Led”. I was moved by her interview, her eloquence, and the way she answered questions. I am keen to read her book.

         It’s easy to admire great leaders but at times one should also admire normal people who help change lives. One such person that popped up in my life twice was a one-legged clerk named Lou Smith.

         He didn’t rise to great heights in his career. He was a  government clerk, a man of integrity with a great sense of humour, he called a ‘spade a spade which didn’t endear him to the bosses.

         I needed my father’s approval to join the Navy Fleet Air Arm, as I was underage at the time.  He insisted I needed a qualification, and a permanent job to come back to after the war finished.

         I sat and passed the Public Service Entrance Examination then came down to Wellington by train from Hawera and went straight to the State Commissioner’s Office and said I would like a job in the Department of Agriculture.

         They said,” “We are short of staff. When can you start? I said, “Tomorrow.”That can be arranged, I was told. ” Take this note to the personnel officer, Jim Anderson. He will fix you up.”

         I first met Lou Smith when I joined the Department of Agriculture as a clerical cadet.

         I think he took pity on me, a country kid from a rural area. I had been working on farms for a couple of years and Lou had been a farmer. He kept an eye on me and helped me settle into the city and the new work environment.

         I was told he had been a very good rugby player and had been picked for an All-Black trial game, on the wing. On his way to the trial game from Bunnythorpe a dog had run out in front of this motorbike. He swerved, fell off, and broke his leg.  Gangrene set in and his leg had to be amputated.

         He was determined it would not stop him from leading a normal life. He was an inspiration to us all. At the office, he always maintained he could do anything else anyone else could do.

         He always insisted on climbing the ladder to change any light bulbs or do any other manual jobs that needed doing.

         After his accident, he believed there was a need for a support group to help, support, and encourage other new ‘limbees’.

         He hired a hall at his own expense and put an advertisement in the newspaper calling for a public meeting for amputees. No one turned up. He tells how the caretaker took pity on him and made him a cup of tea.

         Success came later when he helped form the Amputees Association. He talked little about his welfare work in this area.

         Many years later in 1967 when I was asked to head up a newly formed  Information Service Section  I inherited some of the leftover people from the closed-down Journal of Agriculture staff.

         Lou Smith became my Admin. Officer. It was great to see him again. He still had his sense of humour. He was honest and blunt calling a ‘spade a spade. He was still mowing lawns for elderly widows and doing extra tasks for many people.

         Success is not necessarily how high you climb in your working career, or how much money you earn. Often success is more about your integrity and the memories you leave behind that are remembered. 

         The late Lou Smith, a humble clerk, had lessons for us all.

Geoffrey Moss(mossassociates.co.nz)

an Eisenhower Exchange Fellow.