Maurice and Katia Krafft’s marriage was always on shaky ground. Sometimes not so much shaky, as wobbly, red hot and liquid. The French field volcanologists became stars at home and abroad during the 1970s and 1980s for their filmed exploits as they captured racing lava flows or massive dancing-fountain eruptions or peered over crater rims.
They were geology’s answer to Jacques Cousteau, becoming international volcano chasers, packing their silver heat suits and flying off to observe volcanic activity and sample its chemistry wherever it was happening – including at least one New Zealand expedition in the mid-1980s.
When they weren’t dodging flaming rocks or getting scalded underfoot, they wrote books, did lecture tours, appeared on television and – according to the new documentary Fire of Love – did much existential thinking about their place on this fiery planet of ours, given their repeated exposure to its geo-power.
Theirs, says the film, was a happy adventurous life together. One in which both embraced the risks of their chosen occupation philosophically and one which was duly cut short.
They died in southern Japan in 1991, while observing an eruption on Mt Unzen on the island of Kyushu. A pyroclastic flow of ash, gas and rocks swept down the mountain killing 41 other people as well, all within an evacuation zone. When the bodies were recovered, the Kraffts had been the closest to the collapsed lava dome.
Denne historien er fra August 13 - 19, 2022-utgaven av New Zealand Listener.
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Denne historien er fra August 13 - 19, 2022-utgaven av New Zealand Listener.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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First-world problem
Harrowing tales of migrants attempting to enter the US highlight the political failure to fully tackle the problem.
Applying intelligence to AI
I call it the 'Terminator Effect', based on the premise that thinking machines took over the world.
Nazism rears its head
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Staying ahead of the game
Will the brave new world of bipartisanship that seems to be on offer with an Infrastructure Commission come to fruition?
Grasping the nettle
Broccoli is horrible. It smells, when being cooked, like cat pee.
Hangry? Eat breakfast
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Chemical reaction
Nitrates in processed meats are well known to cause harm, but consumed from plant sources, their effect is quite different.
Me and my guitar
Australian guitarist Karin Schaupp sticks to the familiar for her Dunedin concerts.
Time is on my side
Age does not weary some of our much-loved musicians but what keeps them on the road?
The kids are not alright
Nuanced account details how China's blessed generation has been replaced by one consumed by fear and hopelessness.