My First 80 Years: Christian, Polymath,Octodad WW2 to 2019 with miracles and spooky bits.

A rewarding, vibrant experience from blackout curtains in WW11, life, history, mysteries and miracles over the 80 years in New Zealand. The author, a polymath, has eight children fathered over a 48 period (Octodad). Diverse occupations ranged through Dress designer, Pig farm hand, Stock Market researcher, Founding Manager of the Samoa National Provident Fund, Chartered Accountant, Computer engineer, Social and technical historian and more. He was a photographer/chemist at age 10. Colour reproductions of his paintings and photographs are included. The seven years in Samoa show the delight in challenges and the family coping and loving that place. The creation of the Samoa NPF in 1971 from idea to working reality in only 13 months was a highlight of his life and a stunning achievement. A Parliamentary candidate for National in 1975 as part of Muldoon's Team his vigorous campaign was fire bombed on the eve of the election. The opponent's majority was reduced by 5,000. Rich in history of printing processes and other technology created (and obsoleted) in his lifetime as well as commentary on those. He was also a pioneer in computing being involved in the design of the first commercial microcomputer system in 1976 built for house plan drawing. His previously unpublished stock market research is being published separately in conjunction with this work. In the second half of his life health diminished him a bit, but not his will or spirit. At 80 he had two children at High School, one just started. The saga includes his religious experiences with some strange ones in the Far North following a beheading. A committed Christian dealing with the apparently weird, offering hope and a vision for the future.