Chris Pash

Cliche of the Week - CUT TO THE CHASE

2010-06-06T16:59:00.000-07:00

Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd executed a high-wire double cliche sentence : “But the bottom line is, the measures, at the end of the day, were not sufficient, and let’s just be frank about that.”

The Last Whale Documentary

2009-11-17T20:07:00.000-08:00

A documentary based on the book, The Last Whale, has started with filming in Albany, Western Australia, the site of Australia's last whaling station. The Director is Mick McIntyre.

We're looking for any footage in the 1970s from the whaling station, the whale chaser ships or the anti-whaling protests in 1977.

It's been just 30 years since Australia stopped whaling. THe Last Whale portrays the raw adventure of going to sea, the perils of being a whaler and the ‘crazy, but somehow magical’ commitment that lead activists to throw themselves into the path of an explosive harpoon.

(Pictured: Kase Van Der Gaag, the former master of the Cheynes II whale ship, in Albany, WA, on November 15, 2009)

The Jon Doust Blog: The book is up and away: Boy on a Wire

2009-03-23T15:25:00.000-07:00

The Jon Doust Blog: The book is up and away: Boy on a Wire

Fremantle Press: Perth Writers' Festival Podcasts

2009-03-12T21:07:00.000-07:00

Fremantle Press: Perth Writers' Festival Podcasts

Review - Bookseller & Publisher

2008-09-04T20:18:00.000-07:00

Bookseller & Publisher Magazine in its September 2008 edition wrote: "The Last Whale is a lively account of the protest action that brought an end to whaling in Australia in the 1970s."

Freelance reviewer Sally Denmead said: "Pash should be commended for his objective and balanced approach, devoting just as much time to the stories of individual whalers and what the industry meant to them and the town of Albany, as he does to the activists."

In a separate interview in the same magazine, Chris Pash said: "I enjoy equally the company of the whalers and the anti-whaling activists. I went out with the whalers twice, both times catching sperm whales. I feel close to them and somewhere along the line I took on the responsibility to tell their story fairly and accurately, to be a champion, to explain their lives honestly but not to be an apologist."

On the anti-whaling activisits of 1977, Pash said: " They were crazy, but somehow magical, to throw themselves in front of an explosive head harpoon. There’s a part in all of us that longs
to take action, tilt at windmills, right wrongs, take a final stand. Stuff it, let’s do it. But few act
on that longing. So, why did these people? The Last Whale seeks answers."

Steve Shallhorn, CEO of Greenpeace Australia Pacific, says The Last Whale is "... an important contribution to Australian history and to the protection of whales... it chronicles the people and events which created Greenpeace in Australia and ... seeks to understand the minds and thinking of those who hunted whales in Australia."

The Last Whale, will be launched in Albany, Western Australia, on September 20, 2008, by Steve Shallhorn at Albany, Western Australia, the site of Australia's last whaling station, during the Sprung Writers Festival. The Last Whale will be in bookstores from October 1.

Greenpeace supporters are being offered an exclusive early release copy of The Last Whale, with proceeds going to Greenpeace’s ongoing work.

See The Last Whale video here

Whaler and Anti-whaling activist fight for Humpbacks

2007-11-04T20:14:00.000-08:00

Writer Tim Winton, 1977 anti-whaling activist Jonny Lewis and former whaling ship Captain Kase Van der Gaag at the site of Australia's last whaling station (closed in 1978). They joined forces to speak out against the Japanese plans to harpoon 50 humpback whales this year.

Fight for Fifty organised by IFAW (International Fund for Animal Welfare) - A stand for the humpbacks who soon will be hunted by the Japanese whaling fleet.

In Albany, Western Australia, November 3, 2007: (l-R) Former whaling ship captain Kase Van Der Gaag; the head of the 1977 anti-whaling activists Jonny Lewis; former whaling ship captain Paddy Hart; Chris Pash.

Fight for Fifty day November 3, 2007, at Albany, Western Australia, the site of Australia's last whaling station

- CHRIS PASH