A giant in our lives has fallen in the forest.

 Some sad news came last night when we heard that Grant "Yogi Squeeze" Martin was being buried in Te Kauwhata. (Sunday 29 April, 2012)

Funny thing though, was that I saw a guy walking around in Rozelle in Sydney on Saturday morning who looked and moved just like Grant - I was just thinking of him the day before we heard he'd passed away.

Survived by Suze, his beloved partner and all the kids he'd been a father figure for and everyone who's heard his magic performed live or recorded.

Even though he was a rolling stone, Grant appeared to me as a  family and home boy at heart who would drop in whenever he was around and always brought a sense of occasion and celebration with him.

He was a treasure of his family and community and contributed his talents in many of our community events - weddings, funerals and celebrations.

He introduced me to himself as a "Savant Idiot", always willing to send himself up.

A brilliant and creative musician, he would play music that expressed whatever was happening around him.  As a bloke, he loved the same cars I did and often showed up at our place on a motor bike.

Larger than life, full of fun, a real Maori boy with a Pakeha dad, equipped with Maori humour with a twist ....and yet lauded in China as a star - the guy had a huge heart and soul and was lovely to be around.

He was a caring role model and he and Suze had a live-in contract being house mum and dad to up to 15 troubled young men.  Both of these people were living their dream and making a big difference to everyone around them.

Suze has always been a rock for Grant - his biggest fan and best promoter.

Here's a 8 minute clip of Grant doing his amazing thing:

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/Vd4Z3qnmPxY" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen>iframe>

If you can't see this, here's the link

Thank you Grant for taking the time to get to know us, thanks for all your music, magic and your thoughts.

Thank you Grant and Suze for being such a great couple!

We're going to miss you Grant!

This is only the beginning. Get to know clarity. Email me, Mike Kennedy...