26 ‘The Quitter’ by Beryl Markham, written 1946, first published by Cosmopolitan, June 1946.
27 Cosmopolitan, June 1946, p. 48.
28 Interview with Barry Schlachter, Boston, July 1986.
29 Mombasa Times, January 1946.
30 Conversation with Mrs Warren ‘Bunny’ Austin, Wiltshire, November 1986.
31 Interview with Mr Ryan ‘Buster’ Parnell, Copenhagen, June 1986.
32 These letters, together with some bank statements, are currently in the possession of a good friend of Beryl’s, who does not wish to be named.
33 Telephone interview with Mr John F. Potter, France, December 1986.
34 ibid.
35 Santa Barbara News Press, 28 April 1953.
36 Ref 1750/212, Hall of Records, Santa Barbara, California.
37 Telephone interview with Scott O’Dell, 10 February 1987.
38 Interview with Mr John B. Greene Jr, Santa Barbara, July 1986.
39 Interview with Mrs J. Whiting, Santa Barbara, July 1986.
40 Interviews with Mr John Yabsley, Santa Barbara, July and August 1986.
41 Santa Barbara News Press, 21 September 1962.
42 Interviews with Mr John Yabsley, Santa Barbara, July and August 1986, and Mr John B. Greene Jr. After Mrs Gertrude Schumacher died her family apparently burned all the couple’s papers, as part of a general clear-out of their home prior to its sale.
CHAPTER 14
Much of the information in this chapter is the result of interviews, telephone calls and letters exchanged with Mrs Doreen Bathurst Norman, who was a mine of information. I have therefore not made individual attributions since these will be obvious from the text.
1 Interview with Sir Charles Markham, Nairobi, March 1986.
2 Letter to the author from Mrs Tiny Cloete, 1986.
3 Probably The Curve and the Tusk by Stuart Cloete. Mrs Cloete does not recall Beryl doing any secretarial work, but Beryl told Doreen Bathurst Norman that she had done this typing for him.
4 Letter to the author from Mrs Tiny Cloete, 1986.
5 Various racing reports in the Cape Argus, 1948; and article entitled ‘Beryl Markham’, Mervyn F. Hill, Kenya Weekly News, Kenya.
6 Interview with Sir Charles Markham, Nairobi, 1986.
7 I have purposely steered clear of African politics and do not see it as a function of this book to document or comment on the political situation at any stage in Kenya’s development. There are many books on the subject by authors more qualified than I and this short paragraph is merely to illustrate the apprehension of the European settlers during the time of Mau Mau, because of its effect on Beryl’s life.
8 Extract from ‘The Tribute to Beryl Markham’, given at a Thanksgiving Service for her life on 4 September 1986, by George Bathurst Norman.
9 In Kenya there exists what is called ‘Fusion’ in legal practice. This allows barristers to act as solicitors and appear in courts.
10 See Inside Safari Hunting by Dennis Holman for Rundgren’s interesting history.
11 There are twenty shillings to the pound which was then worth about $2.50 (US).
12 Interview with Mme Viviane Markham in London, May 1986, and her subsequent series of letters to the author. Also, interviews with Beryl’s granddaughters, Fleur and Valery Markham.
13 Interview with Mr Ryan ‘Buster’ Parnell, Copenhagen, June 1986.
14 Extract from ‘The Tribute to Beryl Markham’, given at a Thanksgiving Service for her life on 4 September 1986, by George Bathurst Norman.
15 Letter to the author from Mr E.R. ‘Tubby’ Block; and telephone conversation with Mr Robin Higgin.
16 ‘Beryl Markham’, Mervyn F. Hill, Kenya Weekly News, 1964.
17 ibid.
18 Letter to the author from Mr C. ‘Romulus’ Kleen, Sweden.
19 Interview with Mr Ryan ‘Buster’ Parnell, Copenhagen, June 1986.
CHAPTER 15
Because most of the information in this chapter was provided in a series of interviews with Mr Ryan ‘Buster’ Parnell, individual items attributed to him are not sourced, to avoid inevitable repetition. It should be noted, however, that a great deal of background information was also provided by other informants and where appropriate these are detailed.
1 Letter to the author from Mr E.R. ‘Tubby’ Block.
2 East African Standard, July 1960; and Mr Ryan ‘Buster’ Parnell, June 1986.
3 General, but specifically see Flame Trees of Thika, Elspeth Huxley, Penguin, 1984.
4 Racing report in The Nation, Nairobi, 3 August 1960 by ‘Blenheim’. The horses were: Sea Lord, Muffindi, Rio Grande, Dancing Flame, Title Deed, Speed Trial, Frigate and Bridgeway.
5 Information provided by Mr Muraguri of the Jockey Club, Nairobi, April 1986.
6 Several informants who knew Beryl in 1936 made a similar statement that it was important to Beryl to ‘prove something’ to Tom at any cost.
7 Lucerne is a green clover-like fodder plant, capable of rapid growth and having great water-retaining properties.
8 Copenhagen and Malmo race courses, June 1986.
9 The late Mervyn F. Hill had known Beryl since her first success as a trainer in 1925, when he acted as timekeeper for the Jockey Club at the old Nairobi Race Course. Mr Hill was a well-known writer in Kenya and his book Permanent Way is regarded as the standard work on the Uganda Railway and its effect on the history of Kenya during the colony’s development. He was also editor of and writer for the Kenya Weekly News, in which his article ‘Beryl Markham’ originally appeared.
Robin Higgin was well known in Kenya racing circles. He died suddenly in the summer of 1986 whilst on a visit to England. Some months before his death he wrote an article about Beryl’s racing career for the American racing magazine Bloodhorse (see: ‘In Africa’, 29 March 1986) and was interviewed by the author when he repeated his views on Beryl’s feeding methods.
10 Independence (Uhuru) was achieved on 12 December 1963 and a republic was proclaimed in the following year when Kenyatta was declared president.
11 Letter to the author from Mr E.R. ‘Tubby’ Block.
12 Then and Now: Nairobi’s Norfolk Hotel, Jan Hemsing, Sealpoint, 1975.
13 Letter to the author from Mr E.R. ‘Tubby’ Block.
14 ‘Beryl Markham’, Mervyn F. Hill, Kenya, 1964.
15 A well-known open-air café built around a thorn tree. Traditionally, messages for out-of-town friends were left spiked on this tree in the early settlement days.
16 Telephone interviews with Mrs Anna Parnell during 1986.
17 Letter to the author from Mr G. ‘Romulus’ Kleen, Sweden, September 1986.
18 Interview with Mrs Doreen Bathurst Norman, Jersey, April 1986.
19 East African Standard, 3 February 1964.
20 ‘Beryl Markham’, Mervyn F. Hill, Kenya, 1964.
21 Letter from Mrs Doreen Bathurst Norman, Jersey, September 1986.
CHAPTER 16
1 Telephone conversation with Mrs Patricia O’Neill.
2 Often called ‘Duke’ – a diminutive of his christian name – Lord Furness was also known to some as ‘Jockey’ Furness in later years.
3 Telephone conversation with Mrs Patricia O’Neill.
4 Interview with Mrs Doris Smart, Sussex, May 1986.
5 The Bathurst Norman family returned to England in 1960 because Charles was suffering from pyrethrum poisoning. He returned to Kenya in 1963 having taken a job as resident magistrate. Doreen followed him that autumn.
6 Interview with Mrs Doreen Bathurst Norman, Jersey, June 1986.
7 ibid.
8 Interview with Mrs Patricia O’Neill.
9 ibid.
10 ibid.
11 Cape News, 3 August 1965.
12 ibid.
13 Interview with Mrs Patricia O’Neill.
14 ibid.
15 Interview with Mrs Anna Parnell, September 1986.
16 Interview with Mr Ryan ‘Buster’ Parnell, Malmo, Sweden, June 1986.
1
7 ibid.
18 Interview with Mrs Anna Parnell, September 1986.
19 Interview with Beryl Markham, Nairobi, April 1986.
20 Interview with Mrs Patricial O’Neill, September 1986.
21 Interview with Mrs Doris Smart, Sussex, May 1986.
22 Interview with Mrs Anna Parnell, September 1986.
23 Now Zimbabwe.
24 Sunday Mail (Rhodesia), 23 June 1968.
25 Letters from Mr Peter Leth, Cornwall, 1986.
26 East African Standard, Michael Clower, 1972.
27 Interview with Mme Viviane Markham, London, June 1986.
28 Interview with Sir Charles Markham Bt, Nairobi, March 1986.
29 Interview with Mr Ulf Aschan, Nairobi, March 1986.
30 Telephone conversation with Mr Robin Higgin, 30 May 1986.
31 Letter from Mrs Doreen Bathurst Norman, June 1986.
32 Introduction to West with the Night, Virago, 1984.
33 ibid.
34 Interview with Dennis Leatherby by production team of television documentary World without Walls, 1984.
35 ‘Turf Chatter’ by ‘The Squirrel’ (Paddy Migdoll), East African Standard, 7 January 1976.
36 ‘In Africa’, Robin Higgin, Bloodhorse, 29 March 1968.
37 Interview with Mrs Flora ‘Paddy’ Migdoll, Nairobi, March 1986.
38 Interview with Mr F.D. Erskine, Nairobi, April 1986.
39 Interview with Mr Ryan ‘Buster’ Parnell, Copenhagen, June 1986.
40 Interview with Mr F.D. Erskine, Nairobi, April 1986.
41 ‘In Africa’, Robin Higgin, Bloodhorse, 29 March 1968.
42 Later Duchess of Portland.
43 Interview with Mr F.D. Erskine, Nairobi, April 1986.
44 Letter provided by Beryl Markham during interview in Nairobi, April 1986. When I read it aloud she said, ‘Do you see what they tried to do to me? That’s what I had to put up with then…’
45 Interview with Sir Charles Markham Bt, Nairobi, March 1986.
46 Interview with Mr Buster Parnell, Copenhagen, June 1986.
47 Interview and letters from Nancy, Countess of Enniskillen, 1986.
48 Letter from Gwyneth, Duchess of Portland, 1986.
CHAPTER 17
1 Interviews with Jack Couldrey, Nairobi, March and April 1986.
2 Ulf Aschan is the godson of, and author of a biography of, Bror Blixen, published Sweden 1986, and USA 1987.
3 Odero, who is a member of the Luo tribe, was the senior houseservant of the Bathurst Normans until they returned to England.
4 Conversations with V.J. Varma, Nairobi, April 1986; and transcript of interviews by the crew of World without Walls, 1984.
5 Interviews with Paddy Migdoll, Nairobi, March and April 1986; and transcript of interviews by the crew of World without Walls, 1984.
6 Interview with Beryl Markham, Nairobi, April 1986.
7 Interview with Sir Charles Markham, Nairobi, March 1986.
8 Telephone conversation with David Sugden, September 1986; and transcript of interviews by the crew of World without Walls, 1984.
9 ibid.
10 Letter from Bill Purdy, August 1986; and transcript of interviews by the crew of World without Walls, 1984.
11 East African Standard, August 1982.
12 Extract from eulogy given by Jack Couldrey at Beryl’s funeral, Nairobi, August 1986.
13 Ernest Hemingway – Selected Letters, ed. Carlos Baker, Granada Publishing, 1981. The phrase ‘and we might even say a high-grade bitch’ appears in the original letter but was omitted from the above work to avoid possible legal problems. This information generously provided by Carlos Baker in correspondence with the author.
14 Series of interviews and letters between George Gutekunst and the author.
15 Letter, Jack Couldrey to James Fox, 5 December 1980.
16 The author of White Mischief; and of ‘Who is Beryl Markham?’ Observer Magazine, 30 September 1984.
17 Interviews with Jack Couldrey, Nairobi, March and April 1986.
18 Letter to the author from Mr E. Baring-Gould, California. September 1986.
19 Telephone conversations with Mr John F. Potter, France, December 1986.
20 Comments made by Sir Charles Markham Bt, Elspeth Huxley and others to the author.
21 Interview and letters from Sir Charles Markham.
22 Santa Barbara Historical Society library.
23 Telephone conversation with Dr Warren R. Austin, October 1986.
24 Letter to the author from Doreen Bathurst Norman, August 1986; interview with Paddy Midgoll, Nairobi, April 1986; and others.
25 Besides a large number of inevitable books on horseracing (such as Gordon Richards’ biography, Veterinary Notes for Horse Owners and Sods I Have Cut on the Turf etc.), and on Africa (such as The Lunatic Express and Last Chance in Africa), there were many classic books such as Ransen’s Maasai Lands; A book of African Legends; The Life of Christ; A Biography of Doc Holliday; Air Navigation – British Empire Edition; Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam. There were also books which no writer would be without: Roget’s Thesaurus, and the complete edition of Webster’s New English Dictionary; and there were novels by: Somerset Maugham; John Steinbeck; Ernest Hemingway; Nancy Mitford; Stuart Cloete; Dick Francis and others.
26 Collier’s Weekly Magazine, 30 June 1945.
27 Transcript of filmed interview with Kay Boyle by film crew of television documentary World without Walls.
28 The Splendid Outcast, Beryl Markham, compiled by Mary S. Lovell, Hutchinson, 1987, and North Point Press (USA) 1987.
29 Interview with Beryl Markham, Nairobi, 1986.
30 Telephone interview with Andrew Maxwell-Hyslop, September 1986.
31 Article, Lesley Ann Jones, Ladies’ Home Journal, London, December 1982.
32 Interview with Beryl Markham, Nairobi, April 1986.
33 SHG Productions Inc.
34 Interviews with George Gutekunst, Nairobi, London, San Francisco, 1986.
35 ‘West with the Rights’, The Monthly, San Francisco, October 1986.
36 Diana Quick starred in the television series Brideshead Revisited.
37 Telephone conversation with George Gutekunst, October 1986. (Note that by October 1986 the actual sales had reached 202,000 and West with the Night had reached Number 2 in the New York Times paperback-sales charts. In December 1986 it reached Number 1 where it remained for some weeks, and sales had risen to over 300,000.)
38 Interview with Jack Couldrey, Nairobi, April 1986.
39 Telephone conversation with David Sugden, September 1986.
40 Interview with Jack Couldrey, Nairobi, April 1986.
41 ibid.
42 Interview with Paddy Migdoll, Nairobi, March 1986.
43 Extract from eulogy given by Jack Couldrey at Beryl’s funeral, Nairobi, August 1986.
44 Telephone conversation with Jack Couldrey, August 1986
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