Mike...SA Author Lawrence Green

I've always enjoyed the late Lawrence Green books. He wrote about old Africa and particularly the Western Cape and had many stories to tell. He had a simple way of telling them and brought out a feeling of nostalgia that I enjoyed.

He died a long time ago in 1973 but his books live on and is still popular even in the USA and yes his books are quite valuable if in mint condition.

In one of his books, In Land of the Afternoon there is a photograph of my granfather posing beside a record Rooibos tea plant on his farm at Kleinkliphuis, in the Pakhuis Pass in Clanwilliam. There is also an account on Rooibos tea, it's many qualities and how it first came to be a popular health drink.

Grandad was one of the first farmers and alongside Mr Ginsberg ( a Russian Jew) and Dr Frans Nortier (a French Botanist) were the pioneers of this tea today.

Grandad also knew Dr Louis Leipoldt well who had a farm very close to his. Louis Leipoldt is famous for his Afrikaans poetry, ie Oktobermaand and others. He also was well known for his famous recipes. Although a medical doctor he had many diversified interests and quite a unique character I was told.

Those must have been beautiful days in SA.

Grandad apparently was conceived in Ireland and was born in Colesberg where my great grandfather after embarking in Cape Town after immigrating and settled in that Karoo town and practised as a medical doctor. His brother too, Clifford played for the Springboks in 1910 against the British Lions. There were only 3 Tests in those days and Clifford played in 2 of them. SA won 2 of those tests.

Anyway to get back to Lawrence Green books, if you are interested, you can maybe in your library find the book mentioned above. They are fairly popular with the older guys especially in the Cape.

I even managed to find one in a library in KZN close by.

Seb 

I do not have any books by Green and will make enquiries with the local library.   In what I call the "pioneer era" there was much done to establish SA as a country with a distinct character an new discoveries, 

Years ago I was at a meeting where the issue of the collapse of bridges in flood conditions - also the John Ross Bridge on the Tugela River was one of those - was discussed.   My comment was not enjoyed by the engineers at the meeting.   No older bridges were affected by  the floods - so here goes:-

"In the past bridges were designed and constructed by men of steel - at present it is done by people with steel instead of brains in their heads."

A civilization Gone  with the Wind,

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I got Lawrence G Green’s book.....’Where Men Still Dream’ ...for the Latin prize in Standard 8. Now sadly lost in my many travels. He had a delightful way of creating the atmosphere of the places he visited.

Hendrik van Loon was another  school prize favorite. I got his Story  of Mankind for some or other subject....’it is little that we know and the rest is darkness.’ He must have been channeling  Peeper’s antecedents .