Mrs Struwwelpeter: ‘I know Piet would want me to thank you’

LINDA Uys, always referred to as Mrs Struwwelpeter in Struwwelpeter’s weekly columns, sent this letter to Kempton EXPRESS:

I have just visited our Helderberg post box to find the latest copies of Kempton EXPRESS waiting.

Thank you to whoever has been responsible for regularly forwarding your newspaper. Tricky job, especially when there was a postal strike, but be assured that both Piet and I appreciated receiving each one.

Also read:

• Struwwelpeter leaves behind many gems

Piet never tired of seeing his column printed in the newspaper. He always read it and was on the ready to complain if a typo error crept in. Good news is that he rarely found one.

We kept every Struwwelpeter that was ever printed and a few years back I gathered them up and bound them into a book. Even managed to get the original mischievous Struwwelpeter picture on the front cover.

Now I will have to make a second volume with the more recent columns. Meanwhile, I am finding it quite an interesting reread and am rediscovering how, over the decades, he viewed the “doen en late” of life in South Africa and beyond.

I know that Piet would want me to thank you for giving him the opportunity to comment and for giving him so much poetic licence. Struwwelpeter valued the opinion of his readers, even his critics. He accepted criticism though perhaps not always graciously. After thinking about it a while he realised that negative comments actually kept him on his toes. I am grateful to them because he would have stopped writing had his fans not begged him to stay.

Piet was chuffed each time one of his special fans supplied him with snippets of information for his column. He stashed them in the top drawer of his desk in a dilapidated bier tray. Last week I found some of the emails that he had printed out. He regarded them as useful material and a strong possibility to adapt and use.

I know that reader input removed a lot of the angst from those Tuesdays when he sat down and said: “Now what am I going to write about this week. I haven’t a clue.”

Almost despairingly he would ruffle through the box and before long was inspired to start typing, using just two fingers.

Thank you, Mr M Huggins, for taking the trouble to share in your letter that appeared in Kempton Express. We as a family treasure and value your comments.

Thank you Kempton Express for providing an outlet for Piet’s talent; for keeping Piet’s mind sharp and active and for keeping him out of my hair when he would otherwise have been bored.

Every good wish for the future of Kempton Express.

With gratitude

Linda