Durban born author dies in Tripoli air disaster. (Tribute by Caroline Smart)Author Bree O’Mara (41), better known to Durban audiences as dancer and actress Bridgid O'Meera Hoare and last seen here in Seven Brides for Seven Brothers died in the air disaster in Tripoli, Libya, earlier this week (May 12) when an Afriqiyah Airways Airbus A330 exploded as it came in to land.
Bree O’Mara won the 2007 Citizen Book Prize, an award voted for by the South African public, for her debut novel Home Affairs. This is an extract from my review for artSMart: “Bree O’Mara takes bureaucracy by the scruff of its neck and stands it on its head. Her characters are all clearly drawn, her years in the theatre providing her with the skills to create believable people through her humorous descriptions. Do the acid test: pick any page, choose a paragraph and then a sentence at random. Undoubtedly something in that section - or immediately before or after it - will make you smile. I thoroughly enjoyed Home Affairs. In fact, I’m reading it for a second time!”
I read this hilarious book for Tape Aids for the Blind and the reading, which will bring much delight to many blind readers, was sponsored by Keith and Beverley Millar and family in memory of their son Daniel. Unpublished works include Traditional Healing and a book about the exploits in the Congo of her uncle, the Irish mercenary Colonel Mike Hoare.
Of Irish descent, Bridgid “Bree” O’Mara was born in Durban on December 27, 1967, and was educated at Maris Stella while receiving a formal training in ballet. She lived a full and varied life which saw her working in numerous theatre productions before going on to be a TV producer and – ironically, considering her fate – an air hostess.
After being a stewardess for Bahrain Air, Bree O’Mara worked as an art director in a film company, producing 35mm TV commercials and documentaries. Her skills at writing copy and scripts stood her in good stead when she moved to London, where she worked in journalism and public relations. Becoming “heartily disenchanted” with media she moved to Tanzania, where lived for a year with the Masai while working for the British charity, Mondo Challenge. In 2004, she returned to her home country and, on the plane back to South Africa, she met Chris Leach. They married two years later and made their home in Kosmos on the shores of Hartbeestport Dam.
A further grim irony lies in the fact that Bree was due to attend the London Book Fair earlier this year but was unable to travel to the UK when flights to Europe were cancelled due to the volcanic ash problem created by the eruption of Eyjafjallajökull. She was going to use the Book Fair visit to link up with the publishers of her second novel, Nigel Watson, Superhero, and plan its promotional launch.
In her last email to me on April 28, she wrote: “I am now going over to the UK on the 11th of May and I can at least look forward to seeing my new book which apparently looks super. I will give you a copy when we next meet up in Kosmos.” Sadly now, that is not to be.
Visit her website at www.breeomara.com and you will get an idea of her character and style of writing as well as her insight, pragmatic approach to life and especially ... her sense of fun – Caroline Smart
The only survivor of this hideous air disaster was a nine-year-old Dutch boy. Sympathies and condolences to all the loved ones of those who perished in the crash.
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