Coming soon….
An extraordinary story told by a family of raconteurs
Long-time readers of this publication will be familiar with the legendary Jack Mudd and his wild stories of animals and travels and adventurous pursuits all over the vast African continent.
Two publications – Here’s Mudd in your Eye (2002) and I’m Alright, Jack (2004) – followed his CXPRESS features and served to introduce his brilliant bush tales to a much wider audience.
So it was with delight that last week we heard, from the horse’s mouth, of a brand new book about to roll of the presses. Collaborator rather than author this time round, Jack still had a significant hand in And not to Yield – the core of which was first penned by Penelope Matthews in the 1960s. And with input from several of Jack’s family members, it has now finally seen the light.
In its foreword, Val Thomas writes, inter alia: ‘Like Jack, they have a keen insight into humanity with a wonderful turn of phrase, enabling them to spin a yarn that holds one’s interest to the end.
‘The story was told firstly by Penelope Matthews, daughter of the character Leila, whose ancestors landed off a shipwrecked vessel in Port Natal in terrifying circumstances. The original manuscript has been supplemented with intriguing, in-depth details from many other blood relatives, including Leila’s father, Theo.
‘His contributions with regard to the events of the Anglo-Boer War, the siege of Ladysmith, and about early Johannesburg are fascinating and moving, as he describes the human tragedies and joys against an accurately recorded background of those tumultuous times.
‘But it was Jack himself, with his unusual levels of energy and enthusiasm, and an eye for a story-line, who took the work-in-progress manuscript with its hand-written annotations and created this treasure trove for the world to read.
‘With a guiding hand from book-publishing consultant Mike Kantey, they gathered some extraordinary photos and commissioned original sketches, bringing the pages to life.
‘For anyone interested in southern African history from 1860 to the 1930s, with events from Cape Town to Lusaka, this intertwining set of intriguing stories centred on a remarkable family is well told in the vernacular of its time.’
And not to Yield is ready for distribution to good bookshops by month’s end – in Garden Route terms, that means the usual suspects of PNA Plett, The Heath (N2 between Knysna and Plett), Knysna Book Exchange, De Gratia in Sedgefield, and so on.
Phone Jack on 083 379 6313 or Mike on 072 628 5131 for info on your nearest outlet.
Source: CXpress