In 1897 American novelist Mark Twain was contacted by a nameless journalist to inquire whether he was gravely ill “or already dead”. Twain was amused, responding that he “had heard it on good authority that I was dead…(but) the report of my death was an exaggeration.”
Years ago, while enjoying a salad at a Rosebank cafĂ©Â inside what used to be Keith Kirsten’s nursery, a friend who should know better said SA’s famous horticulturist had passed away. And that, he added, was why the enterprise was now called The Garden Shop.
The “fact” was dredged out of the memory banks for yesterday’s Daily Insider about the RHS’s Chelsea Flower Show where I referred to Kirsten as “late”. Mea Culpa. I should have checked. And was set straight by a stream of agitated community members, one of whom copied his hundred closest friends to point out BizNews’s “shocking disinformation.”
Keith Kirsten might operate outside public spotlight nowadays, but according to a sizeable fan club is very much alive and sharing his horticultural wisdom. Indeed, he is apparently taking a group over to this year’s Chelsea show. We’ve reached out to Mr Kirsten for an interview. Hopefully his response is as gracious as that from the writer who gave the world Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn.
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