HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1966-06-02, Page 14fiederi Signal -S , Thureday, ,june 2, 1966
The Blue Thum
MacLEQ ROSS
" By G, McLeod: Ross ribly concerned iu everybody's
'Rem, in Wet, .is a Tetter from
a Rhodesian who was nor'a sup-
is*ter of unilateral Indepen-
dence:
"Where -really, do you feel
We Rhodesians have gone wrong?
We have been , pretty well
anaiYzed over .the past two
years, bit it 'generally takes the
form. of . being- `wise after the
event' and telling us that 20
years ago, before there was any
. sign of agitation or the rise. of
African nationalism, we should
have been , more prepared ' to
work with the African, ' than
for him.
"Now I have a feeling "that
perhaps it is not we who have
erred so much, but that we are
,victims of the changing times;
the times of cold wars, sensa-
tional press, flying reporters
and this madness of being so ter -
affairs (except lane's own Some-
times).
"This wave of ultra -publicity
has fanned this so-called African
nationalism to proportions far
out of perspective and has mag-
nified what are just demands,
into, quite preposterous claims.
Two years ago, even in Rhode-
sia, almost every politician on
his election platform had to -be
sure to mention what was being
done for the advancement of
the African, or he was in
trouble.
"Our whole system of gov-
ernment, of education, law and
order was being attacked from.
within , as well as from with-
out. The splendid work of our
first-class Native Department
over •70 years,was written off as
paternalism. But we Rhodes-
ians have neer been able to stop
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HOUSEHOLD FINANC
GODERICH
'35A West Street -Telephone 524-7383
(above the Signal Star)
Ask about our evening hours
may,
being paternelistic and never
will for years and years.' While
the .educated few damn the
word, the ordinary Acfriean who
eervia -aad works with as, still
expects 'and gets,it in a big wey.
I have two AfriCans whom
help epension myself and one
child whose school fees I pay.
You will Ifrid, this with very
many Rbodesians, Employers are
at the moment doing their ut-
most not to reduce labor.
"We must go on. The poor'
African just does not knew
whit is biting hate So far he
has suffered little, but it will
come. to him first. They have
no clue why petrol.is short, and
they would not understand or
even be interested if we tried
to explain. It is- very hard to
make art outside realize what
percentage of Africans are in-
tereSted in sharing in the run-
ning of the country and the
vote. Many were intimidated
from voting at the last election,
but elle majority is just not
interested. They`have been look-
ed after, well in the past and
they are quite happy to go on
like tihat.
"Why do th- Africans not rise
to a man, while all these pres-
sures are on the country and
they are getting all this outside
support? Why don't they flock
to Nyasaland, or seek freedom
id Bechuanaland or Zarnbia?-
We Caret even get eid of the
Malawis and Zambians who flock
into Rhodes:a. The 'outside
world does not want to see!
"Give us ,a try! .At least give
us the same treatment as they
have given to the black states
and I am sure we win show. the
world that "we will give the
Africans a fai better chance to
share in. things Oh' 'merit' and
not `color' thari the black states
are offering to, the while men
in their countries. I am Sure we
would swing back from the right
rapidly, once . we have evidence
of a black State advancing In-
stead of regressing. We suffer
apartheid, bul it does nee follow
we ,are bound the same way.
Our cifiedinStances are very dif-
ferent. If the -white man retains
control there is some chance of
Distinguished„ Notable Women Escape Writer s
fly Victor Lewiston
Year atter year, I have writ-
ten of distinguished and notable
women. Looking back, I can't
remeraber who they were. With
one exception.
That exception is Or Judy.
pen. Juay LaMarsh is unforget
table.
This year I'm varying the
program, te write of sortie of
the many women I have creat-
ed — on paper. My female fic-
tion charaoters.
To do this, I go a long welt
back. A few weeks before I
first saw the predestined One
4nd Only I was reporting on the
Chatham Daily Planet. One De-
cember day Archie P. McKish-
nie dropped in.
"Vida,' he said, "I'll stump
you to write a
It was as simple as that.
At McKishree's home at the
corner of King and Third, the
next Sunday afteepoon, we plot -
because such stories wee? easy
to sell. With an incidental love
element because love ie life's
most vital essertial.
Love necessitated female char-
acters, notably a heroine.
We decided to stage the story
in a Lake Huron town that clo-
sely resembled Goderich. .1Viac-
knew the place, and I'd actually
lived there. 'We chose a title,
black man does.
"One of the things which
makes the older geneeatioa ofa
Rhodesian very sad is the talk of
going republican and not mind-
ing if we are put out of the Com-
monwealth. I can understand it
from the younger generation.
They have seen us 'used as a
pawn in the geme and ean never
see any chance of England satis-
fying our demands and those
of the black Commonwealth.
"I don't think if our story is
followed truthfully we have
much tb be ashamed of in our
record. A black population
growth of 200,000 to 4,000,000
in 70 years. Net a single African
killed in anger during this time,
ed • its head. Yes, they say, we
have heard all that ,before, but
just look what 'you did , not do:
Yes, true! .Tnere is plenty to
admit, but if we had the op-
portunity all over again . .
have a feeling things would not
liberalism later, but- not if thebe very different," •
"It Happened Thus."
We worked out a tinae-table.
I'd bring the first Chapter, neat
SundaY afternoon. Mac would
produce: the second. chapter a
eek later. After that we'd al-
ernate till, in some 8000 war&
the novel was finished.
The immediate scene was an
old time mansion, reminiscent
of MacDermot's Castle. It was
to be the home of the heroine, a
delectable " blonde; her wealthy
father, the murder victim; an
ancient housekeeper, Judith
MacTurk, who doted on ghosts
a timorous maid, Katie Sparrow.
For novelty, we worked in an
invention designed to transmit
sight and souhd. We didn't sus-
pect it, but we were inventing
television years and years a-
head of its time.'
' That necessitated an inventor.
We christened him Wayland
MoKinstry. The heiress -heroine
a blor,de to make all blondes for-
ever superfluous, named her
Meta Lawrence
„I had a blonde cousin in Kan-
sas, who paid us intermittent
summer visits. As youngsters
we had called her Meta; only to
discover her real name was Ani-
ta. So the name Meta having
become superflous, used it
for our blonde heroine. The fic-
tional -Meta had, incidentally, a
tall, handsome, ouewerdly sym-
pathetic and inwardly exeeeding-
ly cold-bleoded half-brother --
named Tom; And Tam 'knew a
private detective, Harry Burn -
I think Mac later worked in
Meta% Sunday echool teacher, an
unclaimed treasure, aVliss Fanny
Sifton Mac aleo added, foe hu-
morous effect, .41 colored roustk
bout, Raetus, and his doge Dole.
ful. Also he -cajoled me into pay-
ing Hal Hughson, the sign pain-
ter, a dollar for a picture of
these last two 'characters,
In my first chapter George
Anne:ford, jovial young partner
of Mr. Lawrence (and Meta%
York on her return favm a holi-
day in Europe and brought her
home to Sunset Castle — to
find her father dead in his lib-
rary. Supposedly from a heart
condition. But Meta suspected
murder. Halfbrother Tone was
sympathetic; private eye Bure;
ville was handy; The investiga-
tion began to unfold.
Punetually every other week
I produced my chapter. (I was
simultaneously writing a novel
all my own).. Punctually, 'every
other week, Megishnie deliver-
ed his chapter --- or a good ex-
cuse for not producing it.
My difficulty was Meta. She
was a pretty but emotional girl,
who discovered herself falling
hard for the Inventor and fall-
ing out of love with likeable
tor onee Wondered why Georae
front, was so irearabrolcen when
.Meta made up her ungertain
mind and gave him hi's walking
ticket,
One Sunday, hard put to keep
the story alive, with my chap;
ter still to write and the dead-
line looming, I introduced an
unexpected errivaly Mise Mande
Adair, whom Meta had, met in
England. Maude, a ebrunette,
started to upset the apple cart.
Megishnie had already done
a bit of upsetting. I'd planned to
make Burnville, the detective, a
prime suspect, with cold-blooded
half-brother Toin the real kil-
ler; but McKishnie, the kindest
author 1 ever knew, horned in,
foreshadowing a redeeming love
affair between Tom and Maude
I'd developed Maude as a
trained nurse, calm in emergen
cies, Also she was a palmiet of
sorts. Her thesis was, that- the
lines of the hand revealed the
secrets of character and "You
can't make a murderer of some-
one who lasn't murder written
in his hand."
I wasn't too well versed in
palmistry; hut the use of palm-
istry in detection seemed worth
exploiting. Anyway, I steered
Maude Adair WV from Tom
Lawrence. After Willa blonde
Meta faded into a niere type,
inmeited and unexciting; and
Maude Adair toolc over the
of short stories based op the
pahnistrii=detection idea,
That springe we got our col-
laboration — two-thirds mine—
finished. Mcleishnie had inter-
viewed George N. 'Moiling, then
Toronto Publisher. I sent the
story to Morang. And Morang
held it, mouth after month.
That looked promisieg.
With both novels, ours and
mine in the hands of potential
publishers I turned to short
stories and wrote "The Curious
Case o'f Clayton Cairnfax," the
first of my prcjeeted series "The
Exploits of Maude Adair."
My own novel never got any-
where. But Wren still clung
to "It Happened Thus," and I
still hopede
.'1111claishnie, starting a new
novel all his own,esroposed te
bey or ,,sell his *There of "It
Happened Thus.' He wan ed
11607 \ere agreed on a $50 figueee
Eventually, I bought the unpubf
lished novel, lock, stovk and
barrel, for $50 — and a week
Memory
later, the mantiseript came back -
from Morang.,
I still have it, somewhere .;nt,
the future Wetor Lauriston Biro -
SKIM
There le, though, a sequel.
That summer I placed a lot or
inconsequentiel stories and.
sketches with Canadian Gra-
phic, a short lived ilinstrated
Canadian -Graphic published
the Caiinfax story, the first of '
"The Exploits of Maude ,Adair.".
Graphic went broke, and
got nothing for the,story but the
incidental publicity.
But, years later, Maude Adair
became Glory Adair the do-
minant figure of my first novel,
"The Twenty -First Burr," fi:st
serialiied in Detective Story
Magazine.
Glory Adair figured in another
serial, "The Tempting 'Tangle"
which Argosy took. Argosy fol-
lowed with several Glory Adair
palmistry -detective .stories.
So Miss Maude Adair, on ihe
spur of the mt ment conjured oet
of thin air, under pressure of a
Sunday afteepoon deadline
brought me directly in thy free•
lalice days a measure of fame
which a freelancer always wel-
Can you blame me 'for liking
Glory Adair?
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