It has been said Montague Frederick Maslin (Monty) Wright was born with a fishing rod in his hand.
Mr Wright was widely known and well-respected across the region as an ambassador for anglers and hunters.
He spent more than 30 years as a field officer and then more than a decade as the chairman of the Otago Fish & Game Council.
Beyond his life as an outdoorsman, he was an esteemed member of the Otago rugby establishment.
When Mr Wright spoke about the game, people listened.
Yet, it was his passion for birds — for breeding, showing and judging — which he shared with the love of his life, his wife Colleen.
Mr Wright died on December 4, last year.
He was born on October 5, 1940, to parents Stan and Irene Wright. He was raised and educated in Dunedin.
And although he had dreams of being an ornithologist as a young boy, he followed in his father’s footsteps. By the age of 7, Mr Wright began fishing with his father. By the age of 10, he picked up fly fishing, and soon after started tying his own flies.
It was a pursuit he could do with his father, and by the age of 15 he followed in his father’s footsteps again, this time entering the family business. He began his working life as an apprentice for SM Wright Solid Plasterer, Tiler and Stonemason, but his true desire was to work for Fish & Game.
His father was the chairman when Mr Wright was voted on to the council. Then, in the late 1970s, he applied for a job as a field officer.
His father stood back from the selection process and Mr Wright made it to the final interviews, but he was ultimately passed over for the job.
"What I know now ... what actually happened was, the reason he didn't get the job, the council decided in their wisdom that his father needed him more than they did," Mrs Wright said.
A few months later, though, he was asked if he was still interested in a role as a field officer. He was, so with that, in 1979, Mr Wright began his life’s work.
Otago Fish & Game chief executive Ian Hadland said he took over Mr Wright’s role when he retired as a field officer in 2002.
Mr Hadland said Mr Wright offered great support, introducing him to people and places that were completely new to the younger man.
"He had that depth of knowledge which you just can't get by sitting in the office," Mr Hadland said.
"It's real, practical knowledge, and those ‘people connections’ build up really slowly over time. He knew the terrain extremely well, and he knew the fisheries inside out."
When Mr Hadland applied to become the organisation’s chief executive, Mr Wright was the council chairman, a position he held from 2010 to 2021.
Mr Wright was "absolutely dedicated" to his own family and consequently always kept an eye out for the welfare of staff at the organisation, Mr Hadland said.
Over the years, he said, Mr Wright’s role as a mentor developed into a friendship.
"He was certainly an expert at fishing, really understood fish and invertebrates," Mr Hadland said.
"He understood the waterways intimately — really top-quality angler."
Friend Colin Weatherall said he got to know Mr Wright first through Fish & Game, but then through their involvement in Otago rugby. Mr Wright played rugby for Southern, coached Green Island teams when he lived in Green Island, then, when he shifted to Highcliff Rd, he coached the senior varsity team and was also a selector.
He was a life member of the Otago University Rugby Football Club and of the Otago Rugby Football Union, the latter of which he was the president in 1996.
"He shared his experiences openly and fairly," Mr Weatherall said.
He described Mr Wright as someone with strong views about the modern game and players' values, and a very serious, involved administrator.
"But my heart says Monty was a players' man. He advocated for their needs. He looked after his team."
And he recalled that when Mr Wright spoke, people listened. They valued his input, Mr Weatherall said.
So did Mr Weatherall. Both men were part of a group of friends called the Chums Club that met monthly for lunch.
Mr Weatherall said he always sought a seat next to Mr Wright to glean some advice from the man.
Fellow Otago Rugby life member Des Smith said Mr Wright was "one of those guys who gave his heart and soul" to the game.
He recalled vivid memories of trips with Mr Wright and former president Tuppy Diack.
Mr Wright had extensive knowledge of the game and he was committed.
"He had broad interests, but the thing he did have was the ability to get on with people. He was just a good friend and a good person to spend some time with. We loved our time together."
Otago University Rugby Football Club life member Bill Thompson admits he does not distinctly remember Mr Wright in 1958 when they were both in the Otago Colts side.
"I think he was the hooker in the front row and I was the lock," Mr Thompson said.
But when the two became re-acquainted in 1993, Mr Wright reminded him of their connection and the two soon became friends.
"He could laugh at life but he had an inner strength about what he saw in life. He didn't say a lot, but when he did you listened and you took it on board because he was making sense.
"He was a good, solid, sensible citizen of New Zealand. He cared for his country, he cared for the welfare of the Fish & Game, of course, and he was a thoroughly decent bloke."
Mr Wright got into birds as a teenager.
At the age of 13 he became a member of the Dunedin Bird Club, a membership he held for 71 years. He was a life member of both the Dunedin Bird Club and the Dunedin Poultry, Pigeon and Cage Bird Club.
"Monty started in budgies, but by the time we got married, we only kept them for a short time, and then we went to all the breeds of canaries."
Together they bred a variety of canaries, small finches and parrots.
"That was one love that we absolutely could do together and enjoyed, and made wonderful friends, which we've still got," she said.
In 2023, both were made life members of the New Zealand Federation of Bird Clubs.
Mr Wright was a patron of the New Zealand Federation for more than 20 years until his death.
Among his many honours, in 2010, he was made a Paul Harris Fellow of the Rotary Foundation of Rotary International
Mr Wright is survived by his wife, Colleen, their son, Shane, and daughter Shelley Wright-Chalmers and their grandchildren Courtney and Connor Wright and Trent Chalmers.
"He was a lovely man," Mrs Wright said.
"And we had a lovely life together."
— Hamish MacLean
