Duke Wellington.
The name alone is pretty imposing, impressive.
The man himself is, too. His career and achievements speak for themselves. This guy should have been on the big screen.
If you’ve met Duke Wellington, from Essex, England, you know he’s not someone who tolerates fools. He is a no-nonsense, get-things-done kind of guy with a big heart. And if you haven’t met him, you should. And in his days, I might add, he was a fine runner.
The Eleele man, married to Millie, operates the Rocking W ranch on Kauai. Over the years he has moved cows, castrated calves, pumped water, fixed fences and shredded pastures. He embraced the life of a paniolo and, as he writes, “I have the best job in the world, and make about five dollars an hour.”
Duke is also a fine writer.
His two books are “He Mau Mo‘olelo Na Kekahi Paniolo Pelekane: Tales by an English Paniolo” (published in 2004), and “Ka Pua‘a Kane A Me Kekahi Mau Mo‘olelo: The Boar and Other Stories” (published in 2013).
A war veteran, he writes about life, about his experiences, about family, about what inspires him, about what amuses him, about what he sees before him. And as you would expect, Duke does not use flowery, fluffy, extraneous words. No wasted sentences. No unnecessary adjectives. His writing is to the point. He says what he wants to say, clearly, concisely.
Some writings leave you scratching your head trying to figure out their point. Not so with Duke Wellington.
One particular poem describes well Duke Wellington and the man he is. In “Who Am I,” he wrote:
It’s not a family name I’m seeking
Like the one my father gave me.
But the name I’ll leave behind me,
When I’m laid down in my grave.
When I look into the mirror
Is that the image that I see,
The same image that my neighbor
Sees each day he looks at me?
Does he see a man of honor
One who helps his fellow man?
One who’s humble, honest, truthful,
Lives his life as best he can?
In “Ka Pua‘a Kane A Me Kekahi Mau Mo‘olelo,” his writing is again straight and simple. There are no hidden messages here. He tells stories close to his heart.
The introduction to “Na Lawai‘a O‘opu,” reads like something Hemingway would enjoy:
“The sun was not yet visible on the horizon when the truck and trailer pulled in to the open area beside the river crossing. The driver opened his door but did not get out, instead, he reached for the thermos on the passenger seat and poured himself a cup of coffee, then sat beside the open door listening to the river and the sounds of the valley waking up to a new day.”
Such writing is a joy to read. No pretense. No drama. Tell it straight.
That’s Duke Wellington.
My dad use to dive with Mr. Wellington. I was just a kid then! From what I remembered, “a very nice man!”