Meet the makers of Lonely Dog

In itself, it’s a great story that two childhood buddies should reunite in adulthood, from opposite ends of the country, to create an elaborate fictitious world together. And amazingly, one that echoes several foundational influences in their own lives.

‘I’ve known Ivan for years,’ says Stu. ‘I grew up with him. We went to the same church together and went to the same school, Onehunga High. His older brother and me and our contemporaries were all buddies.

‘At that stage, my parents had just divorced. So I was a 10-year-old boy without a dad. Ivan’s father became like a real father-figure to me. He took under his wing a number of boys in my situation. He was an elder in the church and took on that responsibility and would take us camping and boating. He was a real outdoorsy guy.’

Stu explains that these adventures with Ivan’s father helped form much of his imaginative and adventurous nature. ‘We spent many years doing [adventures together],’ he says, ‘and at night we would lie in the sand and talk big. Ivan and myself had vivid imaginations and we would swap stories. We had that kind of boyhood together.’

In adulthood, Ivan picked up the family trade of sign writing, but his abilities in fine art compelled him to uproot from his home in Auckland and move to Queenstown in the early 1990s. Here, he established himself as a landscape artist, inspired by the South Island’s stunning vistas.

Meanwhile, Stu followed another artistic career as a creative director for an advertising agency. Over the years, he also applied his creative flair to various Christian ministries, including coordinating Auckland’s Bible in Schools, being a children’s pastor and running the nationwide children’s ministry Dynamite Bay.

Then, in the year 2000, Stu had a critical change in direction. He said to himself, ‘You know what, I’d love to write a book. I’d love to share my stories.’ Stu launched into writing his first book. ‘I thought if that got published, it would be a good sign. And it got published straight off the bat, which I was quite excited about.’

That first book was called Achtung, Pavlova (a kid’s book about a World War II plot by the Germans to steal New Zealand’s pavlova). He’s gone on to write a book a year since then, all targeted at the late primary to early teens audience, for which he spends much of his time storytelling in schools.

Ivan has much praise for Stu’s crowd-captivating abilities: ‘There are not many storytellers who can lay claim to the fame of holding a high school audience captive just by talking to them. And not only that, he’s actually an actor/comedian. He’s certainly a rare one.’ 

As the Lonely Dog world was formulating in Ivan’s mind he realised he needed to get a great writer on board, and as luck would have it, he knew his old childhood friend had become just that—a great writer. Ivan also laughingly acknowledged Stu’s suitability for the role: ‘He is witty and wise and a true dog himself. I can picture him on a Harley with his ears pinned back!’ So from Queenstown, Ivan called Stu in Auckland.

Ivan recalls the sales spiel that followed: ‘Stu, here’s this whacked-out world … interested in helping us knock it into shape and turning it into a beautiful thing?’ Stu thought the idea was ‘a bit far-fetched at the time’, but the concept grew on him and actually gave him the platform for including a key biographical moment.

‘As a writer, you’re really portraying your own life,’ he explains. ‘You’re drawing on experiences that you’ve had. My father and mother splitting up had a huge impact on me, growing up without a dad. So when it comes to Lonely Dog being like that—not knowing who his father was—that’s influenced my writing of his character.’

It’s only right, I suppose, that where the influence of an adopted father-figure in childhood brought about adventure and imagination, so too, in creating a fictitious world in adulthood, this story should carry the theme of a child longing for a father.

And does Lonely Dog find his father?

We can’t spoil the surprise. You’ll just have to read the book.

By Hayden Shearmen (abridged from War Cry, Christmas 2012, p 8)

Lonely Dog’s People

IVAN CLARKE  Founder, artist, co-author and owner of the original lonely dachshund (ivanclarkegallery.com)

STU DUVAL - Lonely Dog co-author, children/teens author and storyteller (studuval.co.nz)

RICHARD TAYLOR - Lonely Dog sculptor and Weta Workshops co-founder and co-director (wetanz.com/richard-taylor)

GRAHAM BURT - CEO of Lonely Dog group, design and branding, and Chair of Laidlaw College (lonelydog.com)