A tale to tell

JUNE PEKA drops in on a storywriting class at Canterbury University.

Snow in the air. Broken brollies decorate every second rubbish bin, and parking is even more diabolical than usual on this soggy Monday morning at Canterbury University.

In historic Okeover House though, in the Ilam Room, the heating is on and the feeling is mellow. Fourteen adult students sit comfortably around boardroom-style tables. Thirteen are women, nine wear glasses,10 are grey- haired, and most are over 60 years old. Four times a week in term time, in two-hourly bites, classes of almost identical composition will turn up here, whatever the climate or other worldly events, to be inspired by the man at the head of the table, tutor Grant Hindin Miller.

Hindin Miller, himself mellow and warm, a tall good- looking new grandfather knocking on the same age group as his students, has been bringing them in for 14 years now, and demand is still growing for his guidance in the art of story writing. Although an accomplished fiction author and playwright, Hindin Miller's forte, and favourite writing genre is Gifting Your Stories, described in the university prospectus as "an opportunity to sort out the many incidents of your life and to recall those characters, landscapes and events you would like to preserve. It is an opportunity to hand on your stories in an accessible and entertaining form to your grandchildren or perhaps their children. It will provide the basis of a collection of your own work."

"It began as Gifting Your Stories to Your Grandchildren, but when younger people showed an interest, we abridged the title," says Hindin Miller. "However, the majority of participants are still in that older age group, which tends to have fewer commitments and time restraints. They are so keen. The drop-out rate is almost zero. At the end of their eight sessions, almost all want to carry on, so I was encouraged to begin a Part Two. It's grown to the point where there is now a Part Seven, and it takes a bit of juggling to fit them all in," Hindin Miller says.

A former primary, intermediate, high school and university teacher "of everything , but mainly with a bias towards English and literature", Hindin Miller runs a tight, almost formulaic ship, setting clear boundaries and guidelines around structure and process.

When I join the class, they've written a 20-minute piece, and have broken into four groups to read to each other. There's not much laughter, so I figure the brief must have been to write about about some serious event in their lives. I pick up snatches of reading in the general hubbub. "I took up spinning then", "we lived at Kaituna Valley", "I was fuming inside".

Hindin Miller brings them back to their seats and sets another short exercise.

"I want you to think of the best buy of your life. It can be big or small. You might've paid a lot or a little. Write about that for four minutes, then we'll share them."

Someone always groans, many chew their pens, but four minutes later they share funny and poignant stories, about tickets to Venice, a plastic measuring jug, purple shoes, a farm in Africa, a garden spade and a pottery bluebird from Bungay. Someone always says "I only wrote two lines, I can't think today", but there's no punishment, only kind words and encouragement.

At 11.52am Hindin Miller invites each class member to say a few words about their "passion in life". They're into painting, fashion, the land we live on, reading, justice, nature and a simple life, clay, the use of herbs, music and singing, diving, handcrafts, the development of children, food and wine, and recipe books. At 11.59am he invites them to spend some time at home writing a good copy of their 20-minute piece to hand in at next class, which he'll be happy to mark and return. Then he bids them goodbye. They're still buzzing as they file out, well rugged against the cold.

Hindin Miller is not secretive; he'll share with the class memories from his own childhood in Devonport, but neither does he blow his own trumpet. His pupils, for whom he feels "respect and affection, without exception", would have no idea, for instance, that his first novel (The Dream Monger) was made into the hit film Starlight Hotel starring Greer Robson, The Wizard and Elric Hooper, amongst others.

"Actually, I wrote the film script too. When the Film Commission read the book, they said 'here's five grand in advance; go and write a film script'. I'd never even seen a film script at that stage, but at that time Sam Pilsbury was directing a film for the Commission so I sat down with him for 10 minutes and he showed me the basics, and I wrote it in a month in only three drafts. That knocked off my mortgage."

The man also wrote Estralita a New Zealand novel for youngsters, when there was almost none of that genre around. He has created a stage musical, writes music, and sings like an angel too. Actually, more like Neil Young than Neil Young. But unless you're Bahai'i, as he is ("it informs everything I do") you may not have heard it. For three months a year he travels to the United States and Canada performing for the Bahai'i community and selling his original CDs.

Hindin Miller says he's been lucky, making a living from doing the things he loves. Thousands of story-givers and their descendants would say they're the lucky ones.

- © Fairfax NZ News