Zelda la Grange opens up about life with Nelson Mandela
MONTECASINO - The launch of Good Morning, Mr Mandela, Zelda la Grange’s extraordinary story of her life with Nelson Mandela was held at Skoobs Theatre of Books in Montecasino on 15 July.
South Africa’s most popular new author hosted the launch of the memoir which is said to have become this year’s publishing phenomenon.
A literary-minded crowd – including five lucky Fourways Review readers who won tickets to the event – filled Skoobs, sipping champagne and queuing excitedly to have their copies signed by La Grange.
The throng was enthralled as she recounted her intense, transformative experience working for the man she was brought up to view as the enemy.
What began as La Grange’s attempt to “offload my memory” became a “story of love and hope” with which La Grange wishes to inspire other South Africans to undergo the same metamorphosis she did.
“People are shocked to hear me say I was a racist,” La Grange confessed, expressing the belief that if she could change her attitudes, anyone could.
La Grange described the sincerity with which Mandela broke down her defences, the sense of humour they shared, and the extraordinary spirit of reconciliation and unity that prevented the great man showing any bitterness in the 19 years the two worked together.
La Grange paid a moving tribute to the man with whom she spent more time, she said, than one spends bringing up a child. She commented that the reception received by Good Morning, Mr Mandela has made her more optimistic about the future of South Africa, but also expressed her difficulty in saying goodbye to the nation’s hero. “My heart is still broken,” she said.
