• Message from James Clarke













    "South Africa's Best Humour Columnist"
    - SA's Comedy Awards September 2008

    “South Africa’s funniest columnist.”
    - Financial Mail

    Please forgive the little boasts at the top of this column. You see I am not famous enough to be modest. And that second unsolicited quote comes from the literary critic of a rival group so who am I to argue anyway?

    Having said that, welcome to my blogsite! Please come in and close the door.
    Let me introduce myself: I was for 30 years a science writer on South Africa’s foremost daily newspaper, The Star, Johannesburg, dealing with environmental matters, urban and rural.

    Sixteen years ago The Star persuaded me to write a daily humour column. It's called Stoep Talk ( “Stoep” being a veranda in South Africa).

    I also write for various journals and have had several books published.

    I’m still not entirely sure what a blogsite is except it’s a sort of cross between a website and, I think, a Schnauzer and my friends insist I must have one.

    For some reason it is customary in blogsites and websites to refer to oneself in the third person and so, with my permission (thank you so much) I will, from now on, refer to myself as Clarke.

    You will find on this site some of my – sorry, I mean Clarke's - columns and also an idea of some of Clarke’s books and something about the fellow.

  • HOT OFF THE PRESS !!

















    James Clarke’s latest book, Blazing Saddles (Jonathan Ball publishers), is the hilarious story – a true adventure – involving six men in various stages of decrepitude who, on a sudden whim, decide to embark on a 1 000km cycle ride down the River Danube . None had cycled since childhood – nor even owned a bicycle.

    The story, reminiscent of Jerome K Jerome’s Three Men in a Boat – is told by their not terribly good leader, James Clarke.

    The ride which passed through four countries became known as the Tour de Farce.

    The Tour de Farce has since become an annual event and Blazing Saddles recounts the team’s adventures in France, Italy, Ireland and their ride from the source of the Thames, through the middle of London, down to the North Sea.

    Available from bookshops and Kalahari.net

Books

Books by James Clarke

1969: Man is the Prey – a personal investigation into the methods and motives of man-eaters and man-killers. (Andrew Deutsch, London, 1969; Panther Books, London, 1969; Stein and Day, New York, 1969; Pocket Books, New York 1970)

Cover - Man is the Prey

1970: Bottero’s African Wildlife Gallery. (Wildlife Feature Corp, Johannesburg) a catalogue, with comments, of Giuseppe Bottero’s extraordinary collection of wildlife oil paintings. 

1972: Focus on Fauna. (Keartland Press, Johannesburg)  A look at the wildlife of South Africa with photographs by John Pitts.

1974: Our Fragile Land – South Africa’s Environmental Crisis. (Macmillan, Johannesburg)  A review of the global and national state of the environment. 

1975: The Bushman. (The Museum of Man and Science, Johannesburg) The physical and cultural evolution of the San people.

1976: The Environmental Crisis. With PW Wheeler. (The Star, Johannesburg) An illustrated guide to global environmental challenges.

1983: Mountain Odyssey. – with David Coulson. (Macmillan, Johannesburg) The history, biology and geology  of the mountain ranges of Southern Africa.

1984: Roof of Africa. (Holt, Rinehart & Winston, New York) – with David Coulson. US version of Mountain Odysey.

1987: Survival Guide to the Outdoors. (Earthlink, Johannesburg) A textbook on survival in the African bush.

1987: Like it Was. (Argus, Johannesburg) A history of Johannesburg to mark the city’s centenary. This was the city’s story as seen, decade by decade with cuttings and commentary, by The Star which had moved to Johannesburg (“The Camp”) six months after the goldfields were proclaimed.

1988: The Bedside Star (Argus, Johannesburg) An anthology of “relaxed reading” from The Star.

1989: Back to Bed (Struik, Cape Town) More “relaxed reading” from The Star.

1990: Bedtime Again (Argus, Johannesburg) Even more relaxed reading.

1990: Sabi Sabi. (Struik, Cape Town, 1990) A history of the Sabi Sand, the block of private game reserves bordering southern Kruger Park.

1991: Back to Earth (Southern, Johannesburg)  South Africa’s Environmental Challenges.

1995: The Yellow Six (Penguin, Johannesburg, 1995; Brewin, Birmingham, 2006) – the humorous half-true story of how half-a-dozen Boy Scouts, led by their self-important leader, the author, helped win World War 2.

1996: The Search for the Great South African Limerick. (Penguin, Johannesburg, 1996) A collection of Limericks lampooning the towns and cities of South Africa resulting from a competition launched in The Star.

1997: S*x for the Extremely Shy. (Penguin, Johannesburg) A send-up of women’s magazines sex advice columns – plus some collected humour columns by the author.

1999: Enclosed Please Find. (Wild Dog Press, Johannesburg) Collected humour columns by the author.

1999: An Extraordinary 20th Century. (Independent Newspapers, Johannesburg) The story of Johannesburg and South Africa told with cuttings and commentary – from the Boer War through the apartheid era to the dawn of the “new South Africa”.

2002: Coming Back to Earth. (Jacana, Johannesburg) A comprehensive review of the state of the South African environment.

2003: Laugh, the Beloved Country. With Harvey Tyson (Double Storey, Cape Town) An anthology of South African humour dating back to the 18th century.

Cover - Laugh the Beloved Country

2005: Great South African Limericks. (Zytek, Johannesburg) A collection of South Africa limericks lampooning South African places – including the newly re-named places.

2005: The Funny Side of Golf. (Zytek, Johannesburg) A spoof history of the evolution of golf including golfing jokes.

2005: Clarke on Your Stoep. (Zytek, Johannesburg) A collection of Stoep Talk columns.

Cover - Clarke on Stoep

2007: Blazing Saddles – The True Story of the Tours de Farce. (Jonathan Ball, Cape Town) The totally irreverent story of how five retired newspapermen and a confused photographer – average age 70 – decide to explore “Darkest Europe” on bicycles – although none had ridden a bike since childhood.  

Cover Blazing Saddles

2 Responses

  1. Kalle Pihlajasaari, on October 19th, 2009 at 6:59 pm Said:

    Hi James,

    My mom is your number one fan and clips out your column for me to read as she thinks it ir required reading.

    Surprisingly enough we are living in the house in Parkview of the late Giuseppe Bottero who willed it to my mother-in-law. If I can coordinate it I think my mom would make the trip from Benoni to join us for tea if you were to be available some time. We should be able to arrange a print or two if you are interested.

    My wife is a bit of a natural birth activist and if you find the time you can see what she gets up to at the linked web site. Did you know that the private hospitals in South Africa have one of the highest caesarean rates in the world, over 90% in places compared to the WHO recommendation of under 20%?

    Nice blog you have.

    Fond Regards
    Kalle

    Reply
  2. james, on October 20th, 2009 at 4:08 pm Said:

    Thanks Kalle, it all sounds most intertesting.
    Let’s fix something for December. I am in and out of town until then.
    James

    Reply

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