Vew from the chair: Speeches of Richard WL Austin

On an even lighter note, I remember him for his waggish sense of humour. He was having a morning drink with Arija and me and we had given him a glass of the dry white Sicilian wine called corvo, produced, according to the label on the bottle, by the Duke of Salaparuta. Guilford appeared to be enjoying his drink, so I asked him if he knew the wine. 'No', he answered, looking at the bottle, 'I don't know the wine, but, of course, I know the Duke'. Indeed, his friendships did extend worldwide, because he was a great and discriminating traveller, and often they were as distinguished as Guilford himself. Just as those of us who could claim him as a friend were fortunate, so too was he fortunate in many of the friends whom he could claim, both in this country and abroad. In saying this, I refer particularly to Denis Kelynack and Graham Fisher, whose longstanding devotion and support, the one in his private life, the other in his architectural practice, did much to sustain him. This was especially so over the last few years, when it was becoming apparent to all of us who knew him that, at last, time was beginning to take its toll. He, of course, refused to give in or give up. On the evening of his death, he was going out to dinner with Denis, and on that same morning he had been working with Graham on the final plans for what will be his last house. We will remember Guilford for his courage during these final years. He was not ready to leave us and he did not want to do so, because he knew that there was, for him, much more still to be done. To a questioner who once asked him if he expected to be working when he was over 80, he had replied, 'Certainly. I might begin to be .good by then'. I like to think of him now in Dylan Thomas's wondrously moving words about the approach of death: Do not go gende into that good night, Old age should bum and rave at close of day; Rage, rage against the dying of the light. For Guilford Bell the light has finally died, and for his friends the day has suddenly become darker. 6 Occasional address at the Graduation Ceremony, Griffith University, 8 April 1992 As a former member of the Council of Griffith University, it is a great pleasure for me to be present today on the occasion of the graduation of students from the Brisbane College of Art. It is also a pleasure for me as Chairman of the Board of the Queensland Art Gallery, because the Gallery has a close and continuing relationship with these two institutions, with Gallery Trustees currently being members of both Councils. But quite apart from the pleasure, I regard it as a great honour to have been invited to deliver the occasional address. 150