by John Carlin
My editor at HarperCollins, David Hirshey, can never be thanked enough either. His attention to style, eye for detail and hard toil generally provided immeasurable added value.
My agent, Anne Edelstein, went, as ever, far beyond the call of duty, both with her finely critical readings of my first drafts and with the therapy she was ever on hand to provide when I despaired, moaned or flagged.
Shelagh Frawley read through everything too and, with her meticulous eye for grammatical detail, taught me long overdue lessons on the use of the pluperfect, among other things. Many thanks also to Lauren Jacobson, whose reading of the text provided legal comfort and general reassurance.
Sue Edelstein, my rock, was another diligent reader – ever enthusiastic, encouraging and supportive on all fronts.
Devon Koen delivered a wealth of essential documentary research. Always swift to respond, he was a delight to work with.
Hannia, Tracey, Bella and Frans provided a warm and welcoming home from home at Ilali, the best bed-and-breakfast in Johannesburg. Thank you to my excellent friends Aspasia Karras and Mark Phillips, who also housed and fed me, while providing plenty of ideas for the book; likewise the no less excellent Indra De Lanerolle and Nicola Galombik.
Debora Patta made some key introductions for me, was a constantly valuable sounding board, great friend and – not least – speedily reliable Johannesburg–Pretoria chauffeur.
I won’t go through all the people who helped me in South Africa, the US, Italy, Iceland or the UK but hopefully the mention of many of their names in the book will serve as acknowledgement of their generosity. Huge thanks to all. I will, however, single out Samkelo Radebe, who provided a measure of wisdom and insight that I alone could never have mustered. Samkelo also gave me the title of the book.
Also thank you to Greg Nott, Leila Amanpour, Reine Malan and family, Anneliese Burgess, Antony Altbeker, Riaan Labuschagne, Leon van Niekerk, Carolyn Raphaely and Natalie Holland. Natalie was the first person I interviewed for the book and painter of a most eloquent unfinished portrait of Oscar Pistorius.
Finally, thank you to all those involved in this enterprise who work for the publishing houses around the world that have acquired this book. Most of their names I do not know, though hopefully I will get to meet several of them in due course. The heroic translators of the book into various languages deserve special recognition. As does James Nightingale, my patient and admirably organized editor at Atlantic Books. Big thanks also to Margaret Stead, Fran Owen and David Atkinson at Atlantic, the indomitable Sydney Pierce at HarperCollins, David Figueras at Planeta and Nathalie Fiszman at Seuil. I am not forgetting Toby Mundy, either.
October 2014
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
John Carlin grew up in Argentina and in the UK and spent 1989 –95 in South Africa as the Independent’s correspondent there. He has also lived in Spain, Nicaragua, Mexico and Washington, writing for The Times, the Observer, the Sunday Times, the New York Times, among other papers, and working for the BBC. His previous books include, Playing the Enemy (2008), the basis of the film Invictus, directed by Clint Eastwood, which earned Oscar nominations for both Matt Damon and Morgan Freeman, and Knowing Mandela (2013).