Local authors in the spotlight | Hermanus History Society

In addition to three books about our fascinating region – Annalize Mouton’s A Bend in the Road, on Tesselaarsdal, Robin Lee’s For Keeps, a collection of articles on the history of Hermanus, and a new illustrated souvenir of Hermanus, Just Hermanus, the culture of books, reading and writing seems to be ﬂourishing in a town which is home to many a distinguished author.
Professor John de Gruchy has penned yet another volume – in a publishing career that extends to 40 years or more – this time on a subject very close to his heart, the life and work of Dietrich Bonhoeﬀer. Bonhoeﬀer’s Questions was launched at the International Bonhoeﬀer Congress, a four-yearly event that was held in Stellenbosch in January. In this book, De Gruchy studies the core questions that occupied the mind of the famous theologian while imprisoned during the Third Reich – questions he left behind after his execution by the Nazi regime at the end of its murderous rule in 1945.

Dietrich Bonhoeﬀ er is also the subject of a new book, Polyphony of Life, translated from the German by Pastor Robert Steiner of the United Church in Rondebosch and edited by John de Gruchy and John Morris, owner of The Book Cottage.

Polyphony of Life explores the fascinating connection between theology and music, a subject that dominated Bonhoeﬀer’s thinking in the last months of his life. Not only did music provide him with a rich inner world of solace during his incarceration, but music also lent him a remarkable metaphor for the fragmentary nature of life itself.

Although slim in comparison to other works, the book is a gem and despite its brevity, the process of translating it took two years, during which time The Book Cottage found and settled into its new premises, and Hermanus Varsity was being established by Professor de Gruchy.

But that’s par for the course for these two Johns, both of whom know and love books and can often be found discussing new projects at The Book Cottage. Pop in there some time and you might meet them together!

The collaboration of three local residents – Angela Heslop of the Hermanus History Society, John Morris, author and owner of The Book Cottage, and publisher Helga Steyn – has resulted in the publication of this new book on Hermanus. Richly illustrated with photographs accompanied by minimal text, Just Hermanus is the ideal souvenir for visitors to take home; its soft-cover format means it can easily be slipped into a bag or suitcase.

Oﬃcially classiﬁed as a “human settlement”, Tesselaarsdal is not a town or a village, just a few dozen buildings scattered amongst trees against a mountain slope. Even people in the surrounding Overberg know little or nothing about it. But Tesselaarsdal has a history going back nearly 200 years and is unlike any other community in South Africa. Under Apartheid, the residents seem to have been “forgotten” and were allowed to live together as a mixed community. Now new challenges face this apparently tranquil village.

For Keeps: Articles on Hermanus History, which was written between 2013 and 2019, records 150 years of local history. Covering topics such as the many inﬂ uential personalities that helped shape Hermanus, the early seaside villas, hotels and restaurants, the destructive ﬁ res that remain an ever-present threat, the abalone boom and the need to preserve our natural environment and resources, the book takes you through the development of Hermanus from a small ﬁ sherman’s village to the prosperous, modern town it is today.