Quentin Todd — a lover of a good debate
Everyone has their quirky oddities, those characteristic details of their being which help to describe, but not define. Quentin Todd, who has died aged 60, never knew the annoying whine of a mosquito, its typical 39 decibel range well outside anything he could hear.
That small quirky fact revealed by his younger sister Alison Todd at his funeral reminded all who knew Quentin of the daily challenge he faced living with hearing loss.
Born deaf (he had about 75 per cent hearing loss in his ‘‘good’’ right ear) Quentin would no doubt have been annoyed at any attempt to allow his disability to define him.
Rather, as a man of sharp intellect, a strong Christian faith, political commitment, and community outreach, Quentin’s sense of humour would probably have seen the lack of forewarning of a mosquito bite as a positive in his busy life.
His world view saw Quentin stand three times for Parliament under Peter Dunne’s United Future banner.
The centrist party’s manifesto, with its strong Christian underpinning, suited his vision of New Zealand, but his determination in contesting as a candidate for Pakuranga in 2008, Hamilton East in 2014, and Hamilton West in 2017, was met with meagre reward.
Politically, his high point was making it into the top 10 on United Future’s party list.
But that was Quentin – a lover of a good debate, even a one-sided one (He was known to argue with a GPS at intersections).
In his eyes what others perceived as lost causes was no reason not to discuss ideals.
Born in Murapara to Jerry and Betty Todd, as his name suggests Quentin was the fifth member of his family.
Betty knew almost immediately Quentin was deaf (a result of Rubella during her pregnancy) but could not convince anyone of her son’s disability until he was about three.
He was well into his fourth year before he received his first hearing aid at a Whangarei clinic.
Older brother Mike, who was with him at the time, distinctly remembers the look of joy when Quentin walked out of the clinic and heard a sparrow in a tree just outside the door.
Quentin could not speak until he got the hearing aids, but Betty spent hours teaching him so he could start school at five.
Sister Alison says Quentin’s childhood in Whangarei was idyllically typical.
Wars with neighbours that involved missiles of rocks and clay, playing in the bush at the end of the street, puppet theatre where the characters peeped above the sofa, summer holidays at Tamaterau and Taurikura Bay.
A move to Piopio, however, saw a period in which he was bullied by classmates and caned by a teacher for ‘‘not listening’’.
His defence was a secret club with Alison, a club house (the cupboard above the wardrobe), and a password – which she refused to reveal at his funeral. The siblings had the ability to lip read so could hold long conversations no-one could hear – a habit that drove their father Jerry to distraction.
Piopio was also the moon landing, Star Trek, Lost in Space, and Dr Who. Quentin had his time in the King Country to thank for his lifelong obsession with UFOs.
After finishing high school in 1977 in the Bay of Plenty Quentin moved to Nelson where he worked as a surveyor.
While there he joined his brother Wayne at Riverside, one of the oldest Intentional Communities in New Zealand that had its beginnings in 1941 when a group of Christian Pacifists agreed to adopt a way of life based on cooperation.
On his return to The Mount he joined the Baptist Church and was baptised in 1983 – a day he later described as one of his happiest.
Quentin threw himself into his church community, joining Christian Surfers (he loved the sport), Youth With A Mission (YWAM), and Youth For Christ (YFC).
He worked on projects for these organisations using his drafting, design, and desktop publishing skills picked up during his architectural studies at Unitec, his Bachelor of Media Arts at Wintec, and his Graduate Diploma in Political Science from Waikato University.
Never daunted by such mundane matters as a lack of money, he once told a Waikato Times reporter a planned YFC summer outreach camp would go ahead despite a shortfall in funds.
‘‘We’re leaving the money problems to God. Our main concern is young peoples’ lives,’’ he said.
In 2002 he joined the Activate Church in Hamilton, where for 10 or more years he was a regular at the Wednesday 6am men’s group, and then the Central Bible Church.
Needless to say, he rated his favourite book as the Bible – although he was widely read, Alison said.
‘‘He loved how they looked, how they felt, how they smelled and, of course, what they told.’’
As a boy he loved Noddy, Tintin, and the 50s fantasy novel The Borrowers. As an adult it was nonfiction (politics, global affairs, philosophy), poetry (Homer, Virgil, Dante) and, more rarely, fiction (alternating between some trashy futurist science to something impenetrable such as James Joyce or, more recently, Lucy Ellman’s eight-sentence 1000-page Ducks Newburyport.
He struggled to reconcile what postmodernism had done to ‘‘his’’ language, tolerating its creep into academic texts, but viewing its intrusion into science fiction novels as one step too far.
Those who followed him of Facebook
Quentin’s sense of humour would probably have seen the lack of forewarning of a mosquito bite as a positive in his busy life.
know architecture and design were a passion. He was a devotee of modernists Le Corbusier, Alva Aalto, and Frank Lloyd Wright, Alison said.
‘‘He would have loved to have seen [Wright’s] Falling Waters and we often discussed this seminal work.’’
Quentin was the son of Jerry and Betty Todd; and the brother of Wayne, Mike, Marie and Alison.
Charles Riddle
A life story tells of a New Zealander who helped to shape the Waikato community. If you know of someone whose life story should be told, email Charles. riddle@wintec.ac.nz