Zelda La Grange
Since publication a year ago in July 2014 Good Morning, Mr Mandela has become a top seller worldwide and aside from being available in English and Afrikaans in South Africa, it has also been translated in to Dutch, German, French, Quebec French and Portuguese. It is now also being translated in to Italian and Japanese.
Zelda La Grange grew up as a supporter of the rules that separated black and white. Yet she would become the most trusted assistant to Nelson Mandela, growing to respect and cherish the man she had been taught was the enemy. Good Morning, Mr Mandela tells the extraordinary story of how a young woman had her life, beliefs and prejudices transformed by the greatest statesman of our time. It is the incredible journey of an awkward, terrified young typist in her twenties who was chosen to become the President’s most loyal servant, spending most of her adult working life travelling with and caring for the man she would come to call ‘Khulu’ (Grandfather).
Here Zelda pays tribute to Nelson Mandela as she knew him – a teacher who gave her the most valuable lessons of her life. A man who refused to be defined by his past, who forgave and respected all, but who was also frank, humorous and direct. As he renewed his country, he also freed Zelda from a closed world of fear and mistrust, giving her life true meaning. This is a book about love and second chances.
About the author
Zelda la Grange was born in 1970 and brought up in apartheid South Africa. In 1994 she joined the office of the first democratically elected President of South Africa as a Senior Ministerial Typist. She was promoted to one of President Mandela’s three Private Secretaries, and in 1999 Nelson Mandela requested her to remain in his services beyond his retirement. Zelda la Grange served Madiba in different capacities over nineteen years, and her loyalty has been recognised by several institutions over the years. She is an annual coordinator of Bikers for Mandela Day. She has served as Patron for the 1st for Women Insurance Trust since 2010 and in 2014 was appointed Ambassador of Beeld Children’s Fund.
Good Morning, Mr Mandela is published by Penguin Books South Africa