One of the greatest honours of my life was being handpicked by the legendary Robin Malan to replace him as editor of English Alive in 2016. With each edition, I always worried about making sure he wouldn’t regret his choice. I respected his opinions deeply. I grew up with Robin Malan’s name on my textbooks and other literature. We first met when he published a piece I wrote in “Yes, I am”. It was the first time I saw my name in a commercial book, and I was over the moon. We did live reads and launches and built a special friendship. We went to the theatre together and had long chats about literature and life. He became an incredible mentor.
I have always admired him as a humanitarian. He was against all forms of injustice and bigotry. He was fearless. He eventually went into exile and continued to use literature and theatre to protest against Apartheid. He fought tirelessly to empower LGBT+ people long before it was safe to do so. He used all his platforms to raise awareness and support for the fight against HIV/AIDS. He was always ahead of the times. He was incredibly selfless, kind, generous and funny. He supported so many writers, actors, theatremakers and creatives. So many household names were nurtured by him. As a school teacher, he nourished dreams and went above and beyond to help young people in crisis.
I cherished visiting him at his little apartment for alcohol-free GnTs (with a dash of lemon) and crisps. He was always an advocate for me. He encouraged me to reach greater heights and showered me with love and kindness.
Sadly, he passed on Tuesday afternoon. I am so glad I was able to see him on Sunday evening and share a few laughs with him. I am incredibly sad but so grateful for the role he played in my life. This is a man who didn’t waste a day of his life. He was a blueprint for moving gently and purposefully through this life.
At his request, his body has been donated to the University of Cape Town’s Department of Human Biology. There will be no funeral or memorial service. Should anyone wish to mark his death, they might like to do so by making a donation to Triangle Project or the Desmond Tutu HIV Foundation.
