"Michener, James - The Covenant (uc) (txt)" - читать интересную книгу автора (Michener James A)

people, he was able to clarify historical and social factors
which an outsider might misinterpret, to correct verbal
usage, and to verify data difficult to check. Working
together for two years, we read the finished manuscript
together seven times, twice aloud, a most demanding
task. I thank him for his assistance.
JAMES A. MICHENER
St. Michaels, Md.
Christmas 1979






rAcknowledgment]s

On my latest visit to South Africa, I was treated with invariable
courtesy, and when it became known that I intended writing
about the country, my phone rang daily with offers of assistance,
erudite information and untrammeled discussion. When I
returned to my hotel at night people waited to discuss points with
me, and others offered me trips to places I would not otherwise
have seen. This was true of all sectors of the society: black,
Coloured, Indian, Afrikaner and English. The number of those
to whom I am indebted reaches the hundreds; the following were
especially helpful:
General. Philip C. Bateman, a free-lance writer with commend-
able books to his credit, spent seven weeks guiding me through his
country on my hard-research trip. We traveled about five
thousand miles, during which he introduced me to most of the
experts cited below. I could not have done my work without his
informed and congenial guidance.
Diamonds: John Wooldridge, Barry Hawthorne, Alex Hall,
George Louw, Dr. Louis Murray of De Beers. Peter van
Blommestein took me deep into the mines. I was unuiually
privileged to spend a morning with Lou Botes, a lonely old-time
digger still operating in the Kimberley area, and to share an after-
noon with J. S. Mills at his modern operation. Historian Derek
Schaeffer was of great assistance, and Jack Young spent a day
explaining how diamonds are moved through the market.
Dr. John Gurney, head of Kimberlite Research Unit, University
of Cape Town, checked details most helplessly. Dr. John A. Van
Couvering, American Museum of Natural History, brought
recent theories to my attention.
Early Man: Professor Philip Tobias allowed me to spend a day
with fossils of the great finds. Dr. C. K. Brain, director of the
Transvaal Museum, was most helpful. Professor Nikolaas van
der Merwe, head of Archaeology at the University of Cape
Town. organized an extensive field triD in coniunction with his