In part one Gerrie Hugo explained a lot about his life in South Africa, and the reasons for writing Africa Will Always Break Your Heart. In part two we talk about his life after South Africa, and the problems of bringing a book to fruition.
This is quite the international group, you are in Sweden, your publisher is in South Africa , your promotion is being handled out of Southern California, and I am interviewing you from Canada. Even a few years ago this would have been an impossible situation! How important is the internet to you in your endeavours?
The impact of our global village still does not fail to astound me. I am a techno-peasant and have yet to grasp the full extent of what the worldwide web can do for one. I am however slowly getting to grips with it and would not have made one sale had it not been for this capability. My writing also started off by posting little nonsensical snippets on chat sites. I can clearly recall one titled “The Plight of the Yak Fur Traders in Outer Mongolia.” The response to this diatribe was so overwhelmingly positive that it led me to believe that I might be able to hammer something together closely resembling a book. I also used these chat sites as a sounding board and posted endless snippets of my work. I need to thank all my good friends in cyberspace for allowing me to bore them to tears. They were my initial “editors” and because I value their opinions this book is now available.
On the topic of editing I need to add the following. I saw the need for a specialized edit but alas the budget did not allow for that. I had an editor in South Africa and she did a sterling job with the first 90 pages but I ran out of funds. I then followed her advice and suggestions with the rest of the book.
Credit for most of the editing will have to go to three main ladies in my life. The ladies in no particular order of importance are:
Gun von Krusenstjerna, a translator and now good friend who is busy translating my book into Swedish. This little bundle of energy and wrinkles pointed out things that both my wife and I overlooked, even with detail scrutiny. (Just kidding about the wrinkles – she is a stunner for her age.)
Article comments
1 - Gerrie Hugo
My thanks to Simon Barrett and the administrators of this site for allowing me to air my views. Best to all from my wife.
On the topic of the Truth and Reconcilliation Commission I just need to add a comment from a dear friend that explains my views in a nutshell. In 1992 John Battersby was one of the first journalists to interview me for the Christian Science Monitor. I received this mail from him today and I can think of no better way to express my feelings:
"The TRC was both a good and a bad thing. It forced some to confront what had happened but allowed a sanitised version of the truth to masquerade as the full truth which is probably better than the perpetuation of a full lie."