Bookworm Heaven – first Tony then Kingsmead promise a great weekend – Daily Newsletter

Published on:

23 May 2014, 11:24 am

Hi there,

Those of my vintage will recall a television programme called Haas Das se Nuuskas – not necessarily for the evergreen Riaan Cruywagen or because it was especially good. But, rather, as one of the first locally produced shows on SABC it benefitted from pent-up demand which caused the nation to consume pretty much any television programme on any subject. One of the puppets in Cruywagen's coterie was Bennie Boekwurm, a worm with oversized glasses who probably set the national literacy drive back a decades or three.

My perspective on reading has come a long way since. Spurred by Warren Buffett's advice to "read, read, and when you're tired, read some more", my beside table usually has at least two books in pride of place. This week it was the turn of ex-politician Tony Leon's treatise on Nelson Mandela in preparation for today's interview for CNBC Africa's Power Lunch. Tony's contribution has been featured everywhere from Gareth Cliff's "Unradio" to his launch where Tito Mboweni did the introduction. Even though we're among the tail-end Charlies in this particular publicity drive, am really looking forward to engaging with the author. The book is well written, irreverent and insightful. Too few local productions qualify for that description.

I'll be on familiar bookish ground tomorrow with a part in the Kingsmead school's annual Book Fair. Seeing the show these private school mothers have put together is a reminder of how much managerial talent lies fallow in our land. I'm facilitating a session on business miscreants with best-selling authors Mandy Wiener and Rob Rose. Authors are always good communicators, so it should be fun. If you're in the Rosebank area late morning on Saturday, there are worse ways to spend a couple hours.

Best,
Alec