Walter Thompson, and George Patterson Advertising. They married in 1959 and had three sons.Ĭourtenay entered the advertising industry and, over a career spanning 34 years, was the Creative Director of McCann Erickson, J. In 1955, while studying journalism in London, Courtenay met his future wife, Benita Solomon, and they emigrated to Sydney in 1958. He later attended King Edward VII School. Bryce spent most of his early years in a small village in the Lebombo Mountains in the Limpopo province. Maude Greer gave the surname Courtenay to both her children. Ryder was married with six children, and lived with his family, but also maintained a relationship with Greer, with whom he already had a daughter, Rosemary.
He is one of Australia's best-selling authors, notable for his book The Power of One.Īrthur Bryce Courtenay was born in Lembombo Mountains, South Africa, the son of Maude Greer and Arthur Ryder. ( Adapted from the publisher and the author's website.)īryce Courtenay was a South African novelist who also held Australian citizenship. Throught his early years, which have been marked by humiliation and abandonment, Peekay embarks on an epic journey through a land of tribal superstition and modern prejudice where he will learn the power of words, the power to transform lives, and the power of one. Hymie also joins Peekay in several scams and becomes his boxing manager. When he wins a scholarship to an exclusive secondary school, Peekay befriends Hymie Levy (Morrie in US editions), a wealthy loner and the school's "token Jew." Drawn to help the downtrodden Peekay and Hymie, found a school for Black South Africans. His precocious talents are nurtured by a series of teachers, mentors, and friends, who introduce him to a world of magic, myth, and inspiration. Later he adopts the name P.K.-or Peekay-the name he calls himself throughout the bookĭespite the hardships, Peekay manages to become a gifted student, musician, and boxer. It is there he is given the name"Pisskop," a derogatory term used by Afrikaaners during the Boer War.
As the only English-speaking student, he is bullied and beaten by an older student known as The Judge. When his mother suffers a breakdown, the boy is taken to his grandfather's farm where he is raised by his beloved Zulu nanny, Mary Mandoma.Įventually the youngster is sent to an Afrikaans boarding school. There, a white South African boy is born. In 1939, as Hitler casts his enormous shadow across the world, the seeds of apartheid take root in South Africa. Based on Bryce's own childhood experiences in South Africa this is his debut novel celebrating the power of one individual to profoundly change a life.
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