Old Rhodian Authors 1970 to 1979

Please note that the year date depicts the first year the Author was at Rhodes and not the year the book was published.

Bill Malkin (1970)

ITS  A FACT: A Book Of South African Trivia provides a collage of South African life for the casual reader. Every anecdote is factual and strikes a balance between events of historical or political significance, general interest and pure trivia.  In researching the book, Bill became aware of how wonderfully colourful are the history and the people of South Africa and the book proves to be simultaneously fun and informative.

 

Dianne (Hay) Stewart (1970)

Dianne compiled and edited Durban in a Word, which are reflections on the city, by a number of prominent KwaZulu-Natal writers.  Anybody who has lived in Durban will thoroughly enjoy the book and identify with the stories and if you have left Durban, the book will bring back fond memories and ignite the urge to reminisce.

Throughout her career, Stewart has worked extensively in the field of the oral tradition. It inspired many of her children’s books including The Dove and The Gift of the Sun which has been translated into Danish, Norwegian, Swedish, French, Spanish, Xhosa, Zulu Afrikaans and South Korean.

Her study of African Languages inspired her to publish a collection of African proverbs called Wisdom from Africa, which is dedicated to Professor Ant Davey, her isiXhosa Professor at Rhodes.

For her Masters degree in South African Literature she collected the songs of rural Zulu woman on sugar-cane farms on the north coast, which are powerful examples of socio-political oral poetry. Some of this work appeared in Women Writing Africa: Southern Region published by Feminist Press, New York.
Dianne Stewart is very influenced by the landscape. She has drawn inspiration from the north coast of KwaZulu Natal for her books and Plettenberg Bay provided the setting for her short story The Crash which won the Maskew Miller ‘Young Africa’ award, her youth novel Chasing the Wind which is being used in South African schools, and a collection of essays called Sea, Sand and Sky.

Recently she won the Indwe Risk Short Story competition for her piece Bread for the Journey. She teaches creative writing to adult groups and in schools and writes full time from her home on the North Coast, near Stanger/KwaDukuza.

The Zebra’s Stripes is a wonderful collection of folk tales that find their origins in tribes from all over Africa, and have been retold by Dianne Stewart.

There are tales from the San, the Zulu, Zambia, Congo and West Africa, et al. At the end of each section - devoted to a type of animal - there are facts about the animal in question, adding to the educational value of the stories. The book is beautifully illustrated by Kathy Pienaar with great attention to detail.

In The Guinea-Fowl’s Spots Dianne has created a unique collection of African Folktales, exclusively about birds. Drawn from across the continent, these tales often draw on human characteristics and are followed by African proverbs that illustrate various moral lessons. The book is beautifully illustrated by Richard Mackintosh.

 

Kelvin Hulley (1970)

 

Ralston Raft in The Dance Fire is an African adventure with a delightful mix of ingredients. The story brings together diverse characters; some are noble and grand, others are boisterous and devil-may-care. Ralston Raft finds himself caught in a chain of events following his controversial resignation from the university where he teaches philosophy.

 Does Raft's life, as it unfolds, keep with the existentialist thinking he teaches his students? Unrequited love, a treasure hunt into the Botswana wilderness, and a truly moving encounter with the San Bushmen are some of the elements of this book. Southern Africa is presented with love and sensitivity in a style which provides the reader with a genuine feel, without being hindered by laborious tracts of text.

A rich vein of descriptive humour enhances the book immensely, with each chapter "a must read" story on its own. Roman poet, Horace, asserted that literature should delight and instruct. This book delivers on both promises? They say that the sunsets at Hippocampus Lodge are a sight to behold. Africa is about daytime and night-time, not minutes and seconds.

Book available at Pegasus publishers, amazon.com and kalahari.com

 

 Tony Granger (1970)

Tony attended RU 1970-1973 and 1978-1979 where he gained a BA LLB. At various times he was in Jan Smuts, Cory and Walker houses, before buying a farm on the road to Kenton. His wife Joy (who sadly passed away from cancer ) worked as secretary to the School of Fine Art under Prof Bradshaw and Joss Nel. After Rhodes, he was admitted to the Bar in September 1980 and later became a legal adviser to Old Mutual in Cape Town. He was also President of the Institute of Life and Pensions Advisers (now FPI). In 1987 he moved to the UK with his family (son James is a PE teacher, Chris a doctor) and have been in financial services in one form or another since then. He is a certified financial planner (CFP), advising individual and corporate clients. Tony is the author of over 14 books on finance and financial and tax planning, the latest being Tax-Efficient Investments Simplified, which provides a practical guide to tax-free investments, tax-reducing investments, taxable but efficient investments and tax-deferred investments.

At the SA Business Awards ceremony in London 2010, Tony was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award.

Other books written by Tony include, School and University Fees Simplified, Business Protection Simplified, Inheritance Tax Simplified and Pensions Simplified . He has also written a couple of murder mystery plays and a book of short stories, mostly about university days and his time in the BSA Police in Rhodesia, called Blondie's Revenge.

 

Tony Granger (1970)

Launch of the Definitive Guide on Long-Term Care Provision Announced

Tony Granger is pleased to announce the publication by Management Books 2000 of Long Term Care Simplified, a book most eagerly awaited by the general public and healthcare and financial advisers alike.  Tony is a graduate of Rhodes University in South Africa, and has written 14 books in financial planning.

This must-have book is the definitive guide for anyone seeking information on exactly how the care provision system works – what the options are (both private and state-funded), how much they cost, what patients’ rights are under the NHS, and how to qualify for them, and how the system actually works once the patient goes into care. The book also provides detailed advice on how to fund the selected care provision programme, how patients can protect their assets, and crucially their home, and how they can set up systems to manage their finances once in care.

Highly topical, the book covers the new regime following the Dilnot report, the changes to the Quality Care Commission, the new local authority deferred loan system whereby you do not immediately lose your home to pay for care fees, and many more vital facts that you should be aware of.

The book is packed with information and advice, supplemented by contributions from key experts in the field such as Tish Hanifan, Joint Chairman of the Society of Later Life Advisers, Mandy Thorn, Managing Director of Marches Care Limited, and Nicola Bywater, Financial Planner at English Mutual.

Says author Tony Granger, “Experience has shown that more often than not the Client is the elderly child or relative of the person going in to care, themselves in their 60’s, who need urgent advice on what is available and what needs to be provided, ranging from lasting powers of attorney (LPAs) to where and how to finance care costs, and choosing the right care environment.  This book provides that information.”

With careful planning it is not necessary for people going into care to lose their homes (and forfeit their children’s inheritance) in order to pay for their care. Long-Term Care Simplified provides a roadmap through the maze.

 

“This book is timely, not only because it highlights the many issues to be considered when going into care, but also because it makes the client aware of what choices are available to them.”

 Tish Hanifan, Joint Chairman of the Society of Later Life Advisers

Available from Amazon

 

Charles and Julia Botha (1971)

Buyisela Imvelo Engadini

This translation of the much acclaimed first edition of BRING NATURE BACK TO YOUR GARDEN is not only useful to gardeners, but also to isiZulu speaking conservationists and those with an interest in natural sciences. 

BUYISELA IMVELO ENGADINI provides, in non-scientific language, basic environmentally friendly gardening rules and explains all aspects of the benefits of indigenous vegetation. It puts urban ecology into perspective in a fun way, and helps the reader to understand how best to deal with the apparent challenges of nature in backyards. The book is enhanced by delightful humorous drawings that emphasise points made in the text.

Very reader friendly, it makes a wonderful gift for an isi Zulu speaking friend or colleague. To assist isiZulu speaking gardeners communicating with those who have not yet mastered isiZulu, the book lists the isiZulu names of a large number of indigenous plants opposite their English and Botanical equivalents.

In many respects this most informative book is a pioneering work, and speakers of other Nguni languages will also be able to enjoy using it, making it a valuable tool and reference for a large proportion of our country’s population.

https://www.floratrust.co.za

‌Bring Butterflies Back to your Garden

Awarded a University of KwaZulu-Natal Book Prize, BRING BUTTERFLIES BACK TO YOUR GARDEN is a follow-up to the much acclaimed BRING NATURE BACK TO YOUR GARDEN. It is unique in being the most comprehensive and up-to-date source of information on South African butterfly larval food-plants, as all known indigenous food-plants are included.

Essentially a gardening and not a butterfly book, it emphasises the contribution people can make to nature by actually providing food for caterpillars, instead of trying to eliminate them. Most useful are descriptions of over 500 plants selected by our butterflies themselves, with information on what species of butterfly larvae each plant supports. Technical jargon is avoided and common names are always provided, making it easy for gardeners and prompting eminent butterfly expert, Steve Woodhall, to proclaim “What a brilliant book! It will make butterfly gardening accessible to the public like nothing before…”

Humour is used very effectively to spread a conservation message via the popular hobby of gardening. Yet it is also a practical tool that can also be taken on outings and holidays to help locate butterfly species, by observing their favourite plants. In addition, it is also an important scientific work of use to natural scientists and lepidopterists, in the words of leading scientist, Dr John Ledger: “This wonderful book contains an astonishing amount of information, yet is an easy to use practical guide to attracting butterflies”.

https://www.floratrust.co.za

 

Bring Nature Back to your Garden - isiZulu Bring Butterflies Back to your Garden 
Bring Nature Back to your Garden - Western Edition 
 

Bring Nature Back to your Garden - Western Edition          

Although similar in many ways to the much acclaimed first edition of its eastern counterpart, this edition of BRING NATURE BACK TO YOUR GARDEN covers the regions west of Port Elizabeth and Bloemfontein, an area which includes Cape Town.

A delightfully humorous publication, packed with a wealth of information on environmentally friendly gardening, it motivates gardeners to grow indigenous vegetation with the object of attracting insects and other garden wildlife. It illustrates how easy it is to work with nature instead of against it. In this way gardeners can contribute to conservation right on their own doorsteps, while deriving great pleasure in the process.

Avoiding scientific jargon makes it readable to all gardeners, yet the large amount of information is almost encyclopedic and will also be more than useful to conservationists and anyone with an interest in the natural sciences.

Moderately priced, it is a must for all nature-loving gardeners!

https://www.floratrust.co.za

 

Bring Nature Back to your Garden - Eastern & Northern Edition

Not just another gardening book, BRING NATURE BACK TO YOUR GARDEN motivates gardeners to adopt a completely different mind-set: instead of growing foreign plants and killing perceived pests, gardeners can benefit from planting indigenous vegetation with the object of actually attracting insects and other garden wildlife.

It illustrates how easy it is to work with nature instead of against it and encourages gardeners to help restore our fast-disappearing natural heritage. Virtually every aspect of environmentally-friendly gardening is covered, making it a complete “how to” guide and debunking some long-held myths.

This new edition is a greatly improved version of the much acclaimed original, which won a University of KwaZulu-Natal book prize. Besides being greatly expanded with much more information, it has nearly 100 colour pictures and almost twice as many black and white illustrations.

The same light-hearted and entertaining style has been retained and technical terms have been avoided, making it an easy read. The book is enhanced by delightful humorous drawings that emphasize points made in the text.

https://www.floratrust.co.za

South Africa @ 20 for Better or for Worse

Steuart Pennington (1971)

As we prepare to celebrate 20 years of democracy it is true that hardly a day goes by in South Africa when we don’t read or hear something and then ask:

“Is that true?”S

Or we say:

“No ways, that can’t be true?”

Or we may have felt, when in doubt:

“There are two sides to every story and then there is the truth.”

We all have experienced braai and dinner party talk where we hear statements like:

  • Corruption is endemic and Government is doing nothing
  • Our university standards are dropping
  • Our road accident deaths are the worst in the world
  • Farmers don’t care about the land reform
  • Young girls are falling pregnant to access social grants
  • We have 600 000 unemployed graduates
  • Our education system is broken
  • BBBEE is just another gravy train
  • We are destined to become another Zimbabwe

Are these statements fact?

SOUTH AFRICA @ 20: for BETTER or for WORSE? Has engaged 42 experts to explore 25 such ‘True or False’ statements.

In many instances their views differ.

We have presented their opinions with fast facts, graphs, tables and diagrams in a very readable format.

We have tried to unearth and present the truth.

You, the reader, will put this book down knowing a lot more and with the confidence to counter, or support, our 25 ‘True or False’ statements.

We hope you’ll enjoy the read

www.kalahari.com

http://www.kalahari.com/Books/South-Africa-20_p_47893614

Steuart Pennington (1971)

Africa - The Good News is intended to shift the perception of Africa as a continent of woe to a continent of hope and opportunity.

Unlike the countless books that try to explain what went wrong in Africa, Africa - The Good News looks at what is going right. It gives voice to Africans (and non-Africans) who have a different story of Africa to tell. It explains why a growing number of journalists, investors and academics are starting to look at Africa differently and describe the continent as one of growth and not just of despair.

It looks at where Africa is today, where it is planning to go and its position in a global world, economically, socially, politically. It looks at the business opportunities, challenges and success stories on the continent. Importantly, it investigates what is being done to address the continent's many challenges and problems from leadership to poverty and almost everything in between.

Africa - The Good News is not about despair. It is about hope. In that context we have attempted to make this book readable to anyone who is interested in Africa's perception of itself, the new winds of change that are gusting over her nations and the growing opportunity in arguably the most ethnically diverse, biologically rich, scenically beautiful continent in the world!

 

Steuart Pennington (1971)

South Africa - The Good News' latest book, "South Africa @ 20:  For better or for worse? is now available. 

CEO Steuart Pennington has been speaking to Polity about the reasons behind the book's publication...

"Our narrative is bedevilled with conventional wisdom madness. Rumours, half-truths and sensationalist reporting are so much part of the way we talk. In this new publication, the 10th in our ‘good news’ series, we have selected 25 such topics, such as:

  • our university standards are dropping
  • it’s not ‘if’ we will end up like Zimbabwe, it’s ‘when’
  • our global competitiveness is terminally in decline
  • SA remains one of the most unequal societies in the world
  • our trade unions are out of control
  • SA will run out of water
  • our productivity is the worst in the world
  • our pay gap remains one of the worst in the world
  • ex-pats slag us off at every opportunity."

Some of the 42 prominent South Africans to contribute to the book include Pali Lehohla (Statistician General), John Robbie (702), Rowan Philp (ex-pat USA), Thulani Nzima (CEO – SA Tourism) and Arno van der Merwe (Mercedes Benz SA), among others.

They tell us the truth, show us the facts, and expose the rumour, say Pennington.

Watch Steuart's interview with Sheila Barradas from Polity.org.za here.

 

 Cecile (Scholtz) Yazbek (1971)

Mezze to Milk Tart is a recipe memoir collection:  subtitled, From the Middle East to Africa in my vegetatarian kitchen. Cecile Yazbek's culinary journey began in the old South Africa, where feasts and large gatherings were a common feature of life for the Lebanese community. Her first taste of sour and salty m'finu, pressed into her mouth by the loving fingers of her Xhosa nursemaid Rosie, inspired a lifetime of creative exploration in the kitchen.

Later, in Sydney, Cecile ran Cecile's Vegetarian Kitchen, a cooking school that introduced thousands to her unique, delicious, healthy food inspired by both Lebanese and South African cuisines.

In Mezze to Milk Tart Cecile shares hundreds of recipes, along with stories from her life. Her book is at once touching and delectable.  Available at Wakefield Press.

Mezze to Milk Tart

‌Cecile who has lived in Sydney since 1986, has written, Olive trees around my Table - Growing up Lebanese in the old South Africa (East Street, 2007) and how racism destroyed the lives around her, deeply affecting Cecile as she witnessed the streams of powerless people desperately seeking help from her lawyer father. Available at Wakefield Press

 

Steuart Pennington (1971)

Steuart is the founder of the Web site, SA: The Good News which provides daily, weekly and archived good news updates and highlights a topical, relevant and interesting issue that affects South Africans. The site provides a balance to the negative perceptions about the progress made in SA since the new dispensation. Visit the website at www..sagoodnews.co.za

The Good News looks at eight incredible years of progress post-1994 and the sequel - South Africa - More Good News - casts an eye on the future, on positive indicators and on hope.

The Story Of Our Future - South Africa 2014 has contributions from 77 authors, ranging from politicians, to business people, to academics, to highly regarded commentators. This book has 21 chapters dealing with those aspects of South African life that will have a significant influence on our future. Each chapter is concluded by a flow chart indication where we are now, what the challenges are and where we are likely to be in 2014. Further books available are Miracles that are Changing a Nation (2005), Employee Volunteering in South Africa (2007), Action for a Safe South Africa (2008), and Africa - The Good News (2008)

 ‌

 

All the books are available for purchase on the website:  www..sagoodnews.co.za

 The 1965 to 1975 reunion held at Port Alfred in 2010 was a resounding success and has resulted in Knocking on Heaven’s Door. The initiator was Rob Pollock whose idea was to produce a ‘photo book’, take photographs of the ‘team’ at the reunion, and manage the finances and distribution. Steuart volunteered his services as editor/designer with Johno Green close by. Steuart’ s assistant Leanne Nimmo and Designer Carol Cole worked tirelessly sorting out the hundreds of photo’s that everybody sent in for the book to be ready for the Xmas rush. A beautiful book, full of nostalgia, reminisces and photographs designed to bring back fond memories .

‌ 

Jennifer Ann Thomson (1971)

Jennifer Ann Thomson, currently Professor Emeritus in the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology at the University of Cape Town, was the first PhD graduate produced by the newly established Department of Microbiology at Rhodes University in 1973. Recipient of the 2010 Old Rhodian Award, she has run laboratories at the forefront of GM research in southern Africa since 1978 and has been a popular speaker at conferences on the topic throughout the world.

GM Crops - The Impact and the Potential takes us through the issues and concerns surrounding the development of genetically modified crops and their impacts on the environment.

In Genes for Africa, Jennifer Thomson separates fact from fiction and explains why and how GM crops can help us combat poverty, starvation and disease in the developing world, in a safe and responsible way.

 

Cecile (Scholtz) Yazbek (1971)

Mezze to Milk Tart is a recipe memoir collection:  subtitled, From the Middle East to Africa in my vegetatarian kitchen. Cecile Yazbek's culinary journey began in the old South Africa, where feasts and large gatherings were a common feature of life for the Lebanese community. Her first taste of sour and salty m'finu, pressed into her mouth by the loving fingers of her Xhosa nursemaid Rosie, inspired a lifetime of creative exploration in the kitchen.

Later, in Sydney, Cecile ran Cecile's Vegetarian Kitchen, a cooking school that introduced thousands to her unique, delicious, healthy food inspired by both Lebanese and South African cuisines.

In Mezze to Milk Tart Cecile shares hundreds of recipes, along with stories from her life. Her book is at once touching and delectable.  Available at Wakefield Press.

Mezze to Milk Tart

‌Cecile who has lived in Sydney since 1986, has written, Olive trees around my Table - Growing up Lebanese in the old South Africa (East Street, 2007) and how racism destroyed the lives around her, deeply affecting Cecile as she witnessed the streams of powerless people desperately seeking help from her lawyer father. Available at Wakefield Press

 

Ashley la Grange (1972)

Basic Critical Theory for Photographers is the ideal book if you want to understand key debates in photography and have a ready-made structure within which to discuss and explore these fascinating issues.  Key critical theory texts (such as Sontag's On Photography and Barthes' Camera Lucida) are clarified and shortened.  La Grange avoids editorialising, letting the arguments develop as the writers had intended;  it is the assignments which call into question each writer's approach and promote debateAlso includes invaluable glossary of terms and a substantial  index that incorporates the classic texts, helping you to navigate your way through these un-indexed works.  The book also contains useful information on photo-mechanical processes, explaining how a photograph can appear very differently, and as a result be interpreted in a range of ways, in a variety of books. It is accessible to students, from high school to university level, but will also be of interest to the general reader and to those photographers whose training and work is concerned with the practical aspects of photography.

Ashley la Grange

Available at Amazon.com

 

 

Alison Stewart (1972)

Alison is a journalist and has worked on publications including The Cape Argus, The Sydney Morning Herald, and the Sun-Herald. While she still freelances as a journalist, she mostly writes fiction and has had eight books published, two adult - Born into the Country and Bitterbloom and six young adult. Four of her six young adult books have been reprinted in Italy, Holland, Denmark and Thailand. Alison has lived in Sydney since 1980 with her Australian husband Rob, also a journalist and their two children Georgia who is 23 and a final year medical student and Angus, who is 19 and a gap student in the UK.

Born into the Country, (short listed for the 1987 AA Mutual Life Vita Young Writers' Award) was published in SA by Justified Press and it is a narrative which relates to the Steve Biko Years. The story is about Ntsiki Motlana, a banned black doctor, whose courage and determination is mirrored by millions of women like her throughout South Africa.

Bitterbloom (Recipient of Literature Board New Writers' Subsidy) was published by William Heinemann, Australia in 1991, and has as its theme, issues of migration from South Africa.

Bitterbloom tells the story of the delicate balance between escape and feelings of guilt and loss; of Georgia's shattering relationships with two men who come close to destroying her. In a passionate and often devastating emotional journey, Georgia must come to terms with her past to find peace in a new and hostile land. Alison Stewart brings a new sense of the pain of loss and the joy of re-discovery as she charts a course form confusion and dislocation to peace with the clarity and force only personal experience can afford. Bitterbloom introduces a brilliant and established Australian writer to the world.

For more info on Alisons books, please have a look at her website alisonstewartwriter.wordpress.com

Photo of Alison: Wolter Peeters: Fairfax Media

 

Susan Blackbeard (1973) (also publishing under the name S I Brodrick)

"Set mostly on the Queenstown/Grahamstown axis, but also incorporating Johannesburg and other parts of South Africa, The Door is a cleverly written novel dealing with the life and loves of Bing, a young man from a blue-collar family.  Bing’s relationship with the drama student, Helen, who comes from an up-market background, is explored.  The ways in which the tensions between the two – and their eventual separation – affect Minnie, the daughter and only child from their marriage, is convincingly realized.  

Although written in the present tense, The Door effectively opens on a vista into the past, showing the reader how even liberal whites were contained in a net of ideological and legal restrictions, making it difficult for them to reach out to fellow black South Africans.  To realize the manner in which icons of the present day such as Steve Biko and Nelson Mandela were viewed in the 1970s through white eyes is a mind-bending exercise."

part of review by Poet and Emeritus Professor of English, University of Cape Town,  Geoffrey Haresnape.

 Website:  www.sibrodrick.blogspot.com

 

For information on how to buy the book, please e-mail: 

 Gail Bohle (1973)

The Web of Silence captures the experiences of first year university students. Set in the turbulent 1980’s, the novel traces the life of Emily, a hearing-impaired female, who leaves the safety of her home to attend Rhodes University. While at University she learns to cope with new friendships, conflict, betrayal and romance. Politics also threads its way through this novel. Gail is a Communication Skills Lecturer in the Mechanical Engineering Department at CPUT and was inspired to write this romance novel after completing a romantic writing course earlier this year. When developing the story idea for The Web of Silence she drew on the experiences of first year university students. She also based Emily on the hearing-impaired learners whom she taught while working at the Dominican Grimely School, which promotes the aural/oral method of teaching. The Web of Silence can be purchased from www.crink.co.za as a download or as a paperback. It is also available at The Bay bookshops in Hout Bay and Somerset West.

Marion Whitehead (1973)

Passes & Poorts South Africa

Passes & Poorts South Africa: Getaway’s Top Scenic Mountain Routes provides a detailed guide to the most scenic and is packed with information to enrich both the driving and the armchair travelling experience, from fauna and flora to the personalities behind the passes. Many of the modern passes in South Africa still follow ancient animal migration routes; others are engineering masterpieces that challenge gravity.

All take travellers deep into rugged and wild terrain where nature reigns supreme.

Activities highlighted in each area include favourite hiking trails, mountain biking tracks and 4x4 routes. Each chapter ends with tips on where to eat and stay, from bush camps and self-catering cottages to luxury lodges and hospitable guesthouses.

Many passes can be done as drives or weekend trips en route to some of South Africa’s most popular holiday destinations; driving others is an adventure in itself. Full-colour maps assist in travel planning and the routes and points of interest are illustrated with photographs by the author.

Source: http://www.marionwhitehead.co.za

John McCormick (1974)

Left Rhodes with a BA (Hons) in history at the end of 1977. He is a professor of political science at Indiana University in Indianapolis, USA. John's research and teaching interests focus on comparative politics and the policies of the European Union. He has published the following books:

The European Superpower - (Palgrave Macmillan UK, 2007)

Understanding the European Union - (Palgrave Macmillan UK, fourth edition, 2008)

Comparative Politics in Transition - (Wadsworth US, sixth edition, 2009)

Europeanism - (Oxford University Press UK, 2010)

Submitted: December 2009

Barbara Mutch (1974)

‌‌Barbara and her husband Laurie Mutch (1968) live in the UK and Simon’s Town. Barbara did Pharmacy (74-77) and Laurie did Physics (graduated with a Masters in the mid-70s).

 

The Housemaid's Daughter  is available in the UK, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and South Africa  in e-book & audio editions published by Headline.

The Housemaid's Daughter tells the story of Ada, an illegitimate, unschooled but brilliant pianist who grows up in service to a family of Irish immigrants. As apartheid tightens its grip, she is seduced into an illegal relationship and bears a mixed race child. Forced to flee from the only home she knows, she must carve a life for herself, her daughter and her music in the bleak township that squats on the edge of the Karoo. Torn between love for her surrogate family and outrage at apartheid's sins, she embarks on a dangerous double life as friend - and potential foe - of both black and white.

Visit Barbara's website at www.barbaramutch.com

Buy the book at Headline UK, Barnes & Noble, Amazon, Amazon UK, Apple, Kindle, eBooks.com

 

Gaile Parkin (1975)


Baking Cakes in Kigali

Born and raised in Zambia, Gaile studied at Rhodes University and taught English at the Fort Hare campus in Alice. She has lived in many parts of Africa, including Rwanda, where her debut novel, Baking Cakes in Kigali was released in February by Atlantic Books in London. The book is about the very special Angela Tungaraza , a business-woman, mother and grandmother known throughout Kigali for her cakes and plates of fondant morsels. Taking orders she listens to her customers stories and busies herself around the details of their lives, while hiding her own secrets. Baking Cakes in Kigali

although a serious and tragic story has been written in a funny and light manner which results in charming the reader and being an enjoyable read. Gaile is currently living in Johannesburg and in addition to writing another novel, is a freelance consultant in education, gender and HIV/Aids.Source: Saturday Dispatch : 07 Feb 2009 page 18

Peter Harris (1976)

Peter Harris’s In a Different Time, a true-life legal drama about the defense of the Delmas Four group of umKhonto we Sizwe soldiers, was named as the winner of the 2009 Booksellers’ Choice Award.

The story is set in the final years of Nationalist rule, and four ANC cadres steal across the border into South Africa. They left as students after the Soweto riots of June 1976; now they return as soldiers, a specialist unit reporting to Chris Hani. Their mission: to carry out acts of war in the country of their birth. On the other side, a police hit squad operates in deepest secrecy, relentless, and a dark conspiracy unfolds. When the four are eventually captured, they face the ultimate penalty. Narrated by their lawyer as the trial progresses, this compelling true story is an insider's account of one of the most dramatic political court cases of the previous era. In a Different Time is a tale of men driven to extremes for an ideal. It paints a picture - at times poignant, at times devastating - of ordinary people caught up in extraordinary events. Of people with unwavering commitment to their cause; and of a mother who never loses hope. This is a story of the foot soldiers, and of the terrible price they paid.

Gustav Kriel (1976)

Gustav Kriel qualified as a pharmacist at Rhodes and left the Eastern Cape to start his life in Empangeni in KwaZulu Natal. He completed his MBA at Henley in the United Kingdom and his doctorate in business administration at the University of KwaZulu Natal. Dr Kriel believes that the workforce of any company is a valued asset for any business. The workforce is a moving wheel which keeps the business operating smoothly and efficiently. One of the many challenges faced is the communication levels between the different cultures. Leadership and Social Change gives view to the fact the Eurocentric style of management has been therefore unsuccessful as it does not accommodate the norm for the majority of the workforce in Africa. The African model for business is essential to promote productivity and success.

Books are available for purchase online at:
www.xlibrispublishing.co.uk
www.amazon.com
www.barnesandnoble.com

Or you can order directly from Janetta Smith at janetta@pharmacyinfo.co.za

Jo-Anne Richards (1976)

Picador Africa published Jo-Anne's fourth book, My Brother's Book, in March 2008. My Brother's Book tells a story of betrayal and atonement that spans the lives of two siblings from their nomadic childhood in the Eastern Cape in the 1960s, to their adulthood in 2004 in Johannesburg.

Her third book, Sad at the Edges, launched in 2003, was published by Stephen Phillips

Along the shores of the Eastern Cape, a disturbing story builds, that will have devastating effects on a settled life in Johannesburg. Megan returns from a sojourn in London to find her cousin Francesca using the normality of her life to obscure the dark imprint left by her past. In a time when people party to forget, and yet never quite let go, both Megan and Francesca will be dragged headlong into remembering before they are able to understand forgiveness.

Her second book, Touching the Lighthouse,was published under the Headline Review imprint in the UK, and published in German by Droemer Knaur.



Touching the Lighthouse is, on one level, simply the story of two young women in search of their adult selves – but they are living in the South Africa of recent history, which electrifies this story with the tension of conflicting perspectives. Their youthful recklessness and passion find a disturbing foil in their cleaner, Maud, who may be the oracle of their future – a future which will judge their individual struggle for maturity against the wider struggle for the liberation of South Africa itself.

Her first novel, The Innocence of Roast Chicken, topped the South African bestseller list in the week it appeared and remained there for 15 weeks. Film rights for Innocence were sold to a British production company based at Pinewood Studios.

The Innocence of Roast Chicken is a post-apartheid novel with a strong sense of place and an atmosphere of light and beauty shot through with an acute awareness of impending tragedy.

This novel concerns an Afrikaans / English family in the Eastern Cape and their idyllic life on their grandparents’ farm, seen through the eyes of the little girl, and the subtle web of relationships which is shattered by a horrifying incident in the mid-sixties.
Scenes from the child’s blissful early life are juxtaposed with Johannesburg in 1989 when the exiles are returning and our narrator, now married to a human rights lawyer, stands aside from the general euphoria which is gripping the nation. This intelligent woman’s despair, both with her marriage and with the national situation, resolutely returns to a brutal incident one Christmas day when the family were thrust from their eden

Source: http://joannerichards.com/novels/

Janice Warman (1977)

The class of 79

Where did this book begin? It’s hard to say. This is one version: I was back in South Africa for the election in 2009, writing a couple of pieces for The Spectator. I had been thinking for years about writing the extraordinary story of three fellow journalism students at Rhodes University, who thirty years before had risked their lives to fight apartheid, and this seemed to bethe moment.

But really, it had begun ten years earlier, in 1999, when I opened my new copy of Antjie Krogs Country of My Skull, her excoriating, illuminating, incandescent tale of the Truth & Reconciliation Commission. It fell open in my hands to this page and I was transfixed: And the next thing he came back and he beat me right across the room into the wall and he kept on beating me right into the wall and I felt myself going down. It was Zubeidas evidence to the commission; delivered, I imagined, in a brave, clear voice suffused with the pain I was to hear a decade later: a man came in, and he said, the man, Just rape her, just rape her As it turned out, they didn’t rape her, but they did poison her, and she escaped death, but only narrowly. No, that too is wrong. It really began 20 years before that, when we were writing our sub-editing exam in our final year at Rhodes University and we were called out in the middle of it to have our class photograph taken the Class of 79. We milled about on the little slope by the exam hall and were called into rows. I was in the back row, Marion was in the middle, and Zubeida refused to take part. It would only be used for propaganda purposes, she pointed out with one of her dazzling, trademark smiles.

Within six months of that moment, Marion Sparg had bombed the party offices of the opposition Progressive Federal Party and left the country to join Umkhonto we Sizwe, the military wing of the ANC; Zubeida Jaffer had been arrested and tortured; and Guy Berger, betrayed by the spy Craig Williamson, had been arrested for possession of banned books after seven months in custody, three in solitary confinement he was sentenced to four years in prison.

Yet of course it began far earlier for all three students it began at the moment that each of them realized that what was happening in South Africa so-called separate development was wrong. And that they simply couldn’t tolerate it. And for all of them, that moment came at Rhodes University.

Source: http://www.kalahari.com

Available: http://www.kalahari.com/Books/Class-of-79_p_48809488;jsessionid=6D52DF79E7E0AFBF1096CF7A68E64DDF?linkId=2565708&affiliateId=5710&linkType=ORDER_REFERRAL#pdp_more_info

Janice Warman (1977)

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Take two women:  One finds her high-flying career has flown her straight into a brick wall;  The other discovers her husband lurking in the shrubbery, texting his mistress.  This is the book they wrote.

From divorce to depression, menopause to marriage, from infidelity to insomnia - its all here in The Hey Nonny Handbook written by Julia Jeffries and Janice Warman.  This book won't provide chicken soup for your soul.  What it will show you is what the authors found themselves;  that literature can save your life.  There's nowhere you've been that someone more articulate hasn't been before.  As C.S. Lewis said, 'We read to know we are not alone'.  Women have always banded together for reasons of safety and mutual support.  The Hey Nonny Club started life as a loose collection of women (not a collection of loose women!) who had troubles in their life - and from that club this book has grown.  The authors hope that women everywhere will learn from their experiences and benefit from their words, from the City high-flyer to the mother in track pants mucking out the guinea pigs.  Laced with the acid wit of The Independent's cartoonist Sally Ann Lasson, it abounds in wicked humour and black comedy.

 

Janice Warman (1977)

The World Beneath

1970s South Africa. Eleven-year-old Joshua lives with his mother, who works as a maid for the Malherbes in a white middle-class area in Cape Town. We see this enclosed world through Joshua's eyes as we share his longing for his family and his past life in the rural Ciskei. When a boy enters the garden one night, Joshua offers him refuge. The stranger turns out to be a freedom fighter on the run. As riots sweep the country Joshua becomes more and more aware of the political situation around him and is determined to help bring about change for himself, his family and ultimately his country.

Source: http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-World-Beneath-Janice-Warman/dp/1406337161

Cedric Tyler (1977)

BusinessGenetics, owner of the Extended Business Modelling Language (xBML) was co-founded in 2000 by Cedric Tyler and Stephen Baker. Based in Denver, USA, it provides xBML training and professional services. Its sister company, xBML Innovations, provides a comprehensive xBML software solution site. Cedric and Stephen published Business Genetics: Understanding 21st Century Corporations Using xBML, in September 2007 and the book has also been published in Chinese by international publisher, John Wiley & Sons, Inc. The book details the world's first scientific method for describing business using a rule based method based on the 5 dimensions (who, what, which, where and when).

 

Deforestation: Why You Need To stop It Now

Leigh Collingwood (1978)

Much more than a book on deforestation or even the broader set of environmental issues, the author explores the history of the exploitation of the planet, both physically and spiritually. He deftly handles topics such as the modern economic model, the Peak Oil crisis, government and corporate agendas for social conditioning and control, religious fundamentalism, Secular Humanism and the reasons for moral decline. He relentlessly pursues a “way out” for the planet, and offers the reader realistic approaches to changing values and attitudes in order to arrest the slew of problems facing this unique biosphere.

This is a wide –ranging and philosophical work, written with passion, insight, and forthrightness- a tour de force for a new generation of activities; a clarion call to action for those who can stand on the sidelines no longer and who are prepared to make a difference in restoring the planet to its rightful state of “Mother Nature”- beautiful, fruitful, sustainable, green.

Imaginebooks and Deforestation - Digital Book - ARTF-scrace

 

Zubeida Jaffer (1978)

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In Africa:  The Untold Story, veteran journalist, Zubeida Jaffer revisits Rwanda after 18 years and tells of efforts to reconstruct the country withing the context of growing opportunities on the African continent.  This is the second in the series of self-published pocket book reflections.

Website: www.zubeidajaffer.co.za

 

Shaun Johnson (1978)

Author of The Native Commissioner which has received numerous awards and shortlisted for The Sunday Times Fiction Prize and The University of Johannesburg Creative Writing Prize, Shaun was born in what was then the homeland of Transkei and his own father was a Native Commissioner.

The Native Commissioner, lets the central character, George Jameson, tell the story in letters, reports and notes - as a picture of the last days of colonial rule, of the awfulness of apartheid and of a voyage by a son almost entering his father's soul. But, in particular, it is the story of a decent, intelligent man trying to wrestle with the black depression which increasingly takes hold of him as he tries to make sense of a world turned upside down. In the end, it destroys him.

Shaun was in matric in 1976 when the Soweto uprisings took place, and he had a keen interest in journalism and politics. During the late 1970s and into the 1980s, he was involved in anti-apartheid activism through his writing and he became President of the South African Students' Press Union. In his early career, Shaun became one of South Africa's leading political journalists. He initiated and was involved in the publication of a progressive, anti-apartheid newspaper called the Weekly Mail in the 1980s and he also ran a training programme for black journalists.

His non-fiction best-seller Strange Days Indeed (Bantam, 1993), endorsed by Mr Mandela, won the Golden Ink Award.

Shaun became the founding Chief Executive of the Mandela Rhodes Foundation, which seeks to develop outstanding leadership capacity in the name of Nelson Mandela.

Sources:

www.independent.co.uk

Glen Smale (1978)


Glen Smale

A lifelong motoring and motorsport enthusiast whose writing includes magazine features, books and automotive marketing. He is the founder of Automotive Research, a specialist motoring and motorsport resource, serving the motor industry and related media. His new book, Porsche 917 The Complete Photographic History brings to life the period of the Porsche 917, that became one of the most loved and, at the same time, most feared sports cars in the history of motor racing.

Visit his website at:http://www.motorresearch.com/

Glen has donated two books to the Alumni Authors' Bookcase: Porsche: The Carrera dynasty and Jaguar:E-type.

 

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Last Modified: Tue, 20 Apr 2021 16:24:00 SAST