The Old Diocesan Issue 8 - Magazine - Page 71
BOOKS
Choices:
Encouraging Youth
To Explore Greatness
by Robin Cox (1971G)
Resource Publications
Positive face-to-face
relationships are key to
the health and wellbeing
of young people in a
post-pandemic world.
With this in mind,
Choices – Robin Cox’s
fourth published work
of 2021 – inspires and
guides parents, teachers,
coaches and mentors to
motivate youth to reach
their potential no matter
their circumstances.
There are hundreds
of tips and strategies
to connect and inspire
in this user-friendly
book, which is endorsed
by none other than
current Bishops principal
Tony Reeler.
“Robin’s practical advice,
useful questions and easyto-read style of writing
make this an excellent
book for any teacher
looking to mentor
and guide teenagers.”
– Tony Reeler
Beyond A Distant Edge
by Archie Swanson
(1973G)
Baldarchi Publishing
Launched at the
McGregor Poetry Festival
in November 2021,
Archie Swanson’s third
collection of poetry,
complemented by
beautiful images, was
designed to take readers
beyond the borders of
their own world during
a time when most of that
world was in lockdown.
“Archie Swanson’s
poems derive from acute
observation and reflection,
coupled with intelligent
and detailed commentary.
With economy of words
and efficiency of structure
(stripped even of
punctuation), the poems
show us how he sees
the world – functional
and technological, yet
filled with colour and
music… It’s an adventure to
look at the world through
his eyes, and a delight to
experience his poems.”
– Athol Williams, poet
and social philosopher
Spoilt Ballots:
The Elections That
Shaped South Africa,
From Shaka To Cyril
The Killing of Elifas
by Matthew Blackman
and Nick Dall (1999B)
Penguin Random House
Gavin Cooper’s first book,
Under Devil’s Peak (2016),
was a biography of his
father, the acclaimed
advocate who defended
Dimitri Tsafendas,
Steve Biko and others.
Following years of
additional research,
Gavin now delves into
a story within that
story, in The Killing of
Elifas, deconstructing
the killing of Ovambo
Chief Minister Filemon
Elifas in August 1975.
The assassination
preceded a sequence
of events that would
influence South West
Africa/Namibia’s history
for decades to come, in
the process delivering a
lengthy trial that would
see “unprecedented”
gross irregularities
by a biased judge,
and a verdict that
caused an international
furore and further
alienated the apartheid
government from the
rest of the world.
If you paid any attention
during history class,
you’ll know that the 1948
general election ushered
in apartheid, and that
the Rainbow Nation was
born after the country’s
first democratic elections
in 1994. Spoilt Ballots
dishes the dirt on these
pivotal events in our
history, but it also sheds
light on a dozen lesserknown contests, lifting
the lid on 200 years of
electoral dysfunction
in our beloved and
benighted nation.
“With their trademark
wit, levity and meticulous
research, Nick and
Matthew have told the
stories of South Africa’s
long history at the polls
in a compelling and
entertaining way.”
– Mandy Wiener,
journalist and author
by Gavin Cooper (1976O)
Self-published
THE OLD DIOCESAN | 69
