It’s with great sadness that FDB says farewell to William “Slammy” Edwardson, known as Harry 20 on FDB. Slammy was involved with FDB from its inception and died on Monday July 30 from pancreatic cancer, aged 41. It’s no exaggeration to say that Slammy was known and loved by many; his farewell “Ascension to Valhalla” gig, held a couple of weeks before his death was attended by over 300, even though advertising was primarily by word-of-mouth. His tangi was held at the marae of his whanau in Whakatane, and he was buried in the marae urupa. Slammy was descended from one of the earliest marriages between Maori and Pakeha, his great-great grandmother was from Whakatane, and his great-great grandfather was from Norway.

Slammy had been a stalwart of the punk scene for the last 25 years, sporting at times the hugest of mohawks and cone spike hairdo’s. His involvement in punk rock led to a few run-ins with nazi boneheads. In recent years he became involved in campaigning against the National Front which in turn led one NFer to issue a threat to kill him. In true Slammy style, his reply was to give the guy his home address and request he try to carry out his threat. He never did.

Arohanui from us at FDB to the Edwarson whanau; it’s been an honour for us to have known your son/brother/uncle/nephew.