Hello friends and fellow readers. Are you amongst those who didn’t see or couldn’t read my post on 20 January? It was about my friend and mentor, Rica Hodgson, who died recently. I am really sorry that it didn’t reach all of you who are interested in South African history and the anti-apartheid movement. This was due to technical problems […]
Rica Hodgson: “foot soldier for freedom”, friend and hero
Rica Hodgson — the freedom fighter who rescued me 52 years ago This post is harder to write than I expected. I was at my desk and about to write Rica a letter when I learnt that she had died. It was not unanticipated. She was 97 and had been in frail health for a while. I had only just […]
Finding readers for ‘The Tin Heart Gold Mine’ – Lara’s London and Mandela’s statue.
London’s South Bank Centre and the River Thames Writers write about what they know. Even an imagined world must be thoroughly experienced and known to the author of a book. At the start of The Tin Heart Gold Mine, Lara, the main character of the book, lives in London and in a part of London that I loved, so naturally […]
Billy Holiday singing Strange Fruit, James Baldwin on America’s racial problem and Charlottesville.
We are the same flesh – – we are brothers and sisters – we are parents and children – we are lovers and friends – we are all one people – humankind. Until we stop hurting each other in our desire for power we will never know peace and happiness. The first two films are from more than […]