This story of a middle-class white South African family unfolds between the years 1939 and 1964 - a transformative period in South Africa’s political landscape.

It is told through the eyes and experiences of the younger son and his rite of passage into a country of racial segregation that gradually opens his eyes to the many injustices imposed upon the majority of the country’s population, coupled with a realization that his white privileges are sustained at the brutal expense of others.

A white South African boy’s journey into life against a backdrop of prejudice and change, that takes many different paths from birth to his imagined death. It’s an adventure of exciting discoveries about himself, his parents, the social and political order in which he finds himself, and the spiritual avenues into which he is led that are fraught with conflict and disaster. Romance, betrayal, divided loyalties, and religious intolerance are some of the issues that he faces on the way to manhood. He achieves notable success as a radio journalist, news reader, senior academic, playwright, civic leader, arts administrator and television producer. The story is leavened with loads of fun and humour, taking his Irish grandfather’s advice to always sit further back to get a longer ride, and to call the stationmaster should the journey be tough – a stationmaster who could possess both temporal and divine powers.

Growing up in 'White' South Africa is a delightful journey back into the past that brings alive an era that should resonate with those who lived through it, and fascinate those who didn’t. The author captures the sounds, smells, nuances, events and special characteristics of a post war age that remain etched in his memory. His poignant recounting of the period of his youth against the background of a world that was rapidly undergoing change both at home and abroad is imbued with touches of humour, that comes with a retrospective view of the follies of youth.

The journey moves from the secure environment of his early youth to adventures in the Rhodesian (Zimbabwean) bushveld after leaving school, and then onto London at the height of the Beat era in the late 50s, eventually returning to South Africa and university life in the swinging 60s, where his membership of an eccentric literary sect called the Druids contrasts with his political activities as an executive member of the student representative council and NUSAS that challenged the draconian laws of apartheid. Threading through all this are the many romantic relationships that earned him, much to his consternation, the reputation of being somewhat of a Casanova until he meets the girl with whom he is destined to continue the next stage of his life’s journey.

The underlying subtext is a political narrative of a divided country where its people are systematically racially categorized and separated into allotted group areas, and how the author’s social and political awareness develops and changes during his growing up years as the apartheid system becomes increasingly harsh and evil. From being a purely passive observer and beneficiary of a privileged minority group, he begins to take an active stand in opposing the system.