Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- The Editors
- Acknowledgements
- Preface: In his Own Voice
- Introduction: Reading in the company of Es'kia Mphahlele
- Correspondents
- 1943
- 1944
- 1948
- 1952
- 1953
- 1954
- 1955
- 1957
- 1958
- 1959
- 1960
- 1961
- 1962
- 1963
- 1964
- 1965
- 1966
- 1967
- 1968
- 1969
- 1970
- 1971
- 1972
- 1973
- 1974
- 1975
- 1976
- 1977
- 1978
- 1979
- 1980
- 1981
- 1982
- 1983
- 1985
- 1987
- 1997
- 2000
- 2002
- 2005
- 2006
- Interviews: Looking In: In Search of Es'kia Mphahlele
- Metaphors of Self
- Interview References
- Index
1954
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 04 June 2019
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- The Editors
- Acknowledgements
- Preface: In his Own Voice
- Introduction: Reading in the company of Es'kia Mphahlele
- Correspondents
- 1943
- 1944
- 1948
- 1952
- 1953
- 1954
- 1955
- 1957
- 1958
- 1959
- 1960
- 1961
- 1962
- 1963
- 1964
- 1965
- 1966
- 1967
- 1968
- 1969
- 1970
- 1971
- 1972
- 1973
- 1974
- 1975
- 1976
- 1977
- 1978
- 1979
- 1980
- 1981
- 1982
- 1983
- 1985
- 1987
- 1997
- 2000
- 2002
- 2005
- 2006
- Interviews: Looking In: In Search of Es'kia Mphahlele
- Metaphors of Self
- Interview References
- Index
Summary
Johannesburg
3 July 1954
My dear Pat,
Sorry I couldn't send this earlier: as soon as I arrived home I was seized by almost incurable laziness. I feel triumphant about having got over it.
The deaf and dumb post isn't going so well because the Dept. insist on having someone with a social work diploma, my experience with the deaf and dumb notwithstanding. Still, I am looking around for something: as long as it will be something permanent, more or less. This shifting about I've been doing for the last 2 years must come to a stop. But I can't think of coming back to Basutoland without my family, which is out of the question at present.
I hope you will find this satisfactory (the translation). If I may say so, I find it a little on the ‘intellectual’ side, Still, perhaps it is as it should be, being an introductory number. My impulsive reaction tells me the man-in-the-street wouldn't care tuppence whether or not the Liberals won or lost in the provincial council elections: the Liberals couldn't be that important!
Best regards to you and the family, especially to Mrs Duncan
Yours sincerely,
Ezeke
Johannesburg
5 August 1954
Dear Pat
I received a long letter from Sir Allen1, replying to mine. He accepts almost the whole scheme as I have explained. He thinks however that it would be best for me
(a) to trade on my own account in order to avoid the possible accusation that I am poaching on the preserves of other booksellers locally;
(b) to hire a van for a trial period of 6 months instead of expending capital at this stage – he is prepared to finance such hire provided it is not unduly high;
(c) to work on a return or sale basis to save me capital outlay, which means he would supply me with books and I would be responsible for the payment of only those I shall have sold. (I expect my gain would be from the sale per book, I don't know much about these things.)
I think myself it would be an admirable basis to work on. I have two worries: where to hire such a van and the procuring of a commercial licence, although I don't know if the latter is really indispensable – what do you think about these two points?
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- Bury Me at the MarketplaceEs'kia Mphahlele and Company: Letters 1943-2006, pp. 46 - 54Publisher: Wits University PressPrint publication year: 2009