And here is the latest Rhodie news…

Recent Email from good friend whose father owned the Rhodesia Herald, before Smithy and Co did a Rupert Murdoch style takeover…

Hey! Lore!
U missing the boat or what? If this crap below gets published...?
WTF???

He then attached the following.

I wish to draw your attention to a book that has recently been published written by Sue Gibbs, entitled ‘Call of the Litany Bird’.  

Sue and Tim Gibbs lived in Nyamandhlovu for many years (not far out of Bulawayo) and this book tells the story of their lives on their farm through the bush war, Zimbabwean Independence and through the Gukurahundi years. Written initially as a collection of stories for her children to read and to pass on to their children, Sue had no intention of it becoming a published book. When she took it to a publisher to ask him to print 100 or so copies for her family and friends, he took the time to read it. He was captivated and called her back saying that this should be published for the world to read. He said it was sensational. Hence you come to see the book described below.

Sue writes the book beautifully. She has an amazing gift with words and the book really is captivating. I would like to quote my favourite passage from the book which in my view encapsulates both her writing ability and also her love for the farm and for Africa.

“I sat under the jacaranda, alone and yet not alone, absorbing the achingly glorious beauty of Africa, becoming part of it in those brief moments before the Queen of the Night folded her flowers back in, as if re-gathering her petticoats, withdrawing her scent, readying herself for the day. I remembered reading somewhere that it was possible to turn our ‘desert of loneliness into a garden of solitude’. This is it, I thought.…the aloneness here is not lonely. In the tall bottlebrush beside the courtyard fountain, brightly coloured birds preened themselves, singing and chattering to each other and, beyond the front lands, the veldt, drenched in pale gold, stretched as far as the eye can see. How could we ever leave this? As the sun, a large white pearl, slowly rose in the eastern sky, I got up and returned to the bedroom to await roll-call and Manka’s morning tea tray.”

Incidentally, the book has stayed amongst the top 100 books about Africa for several months now on Amazon, frequently taking the number 1 spot.

What a load of shite…stay tuned. I feel ill.