(The cover of “Scars
That Shine”)
Donvé Lee is the writer of the book, Scars That Shine, which is a biography of acclaimed musician Syd
Kitchen.
Lee is an artist, writer and traveller. Her publications
include the autobiographical novel An
Intimate War, described by Cape Times books editor Karin Schimke as ‘the
most lucid rendition of the madness of love you can hope to read in modern
fiction’. Lee is also known for her numerous fiction and non-fiction books for
young readers, among which are several series on South African artists,
musicians, sports celebrities and freedom fighters. She lives in Noordhoek in
the Cape Peninsula, where she manages a small craft upliftment project in
Masiphumelele, works towards a PhD in Creative Writing, and dreams of painting
again.
Syd Kitchen’s words: “On my better days friends find me
flirting with the nurses, cigarette in one hand and scotch in the other, but if
I listen carefully I can hear the tribute concerts starting up. There they are,
celebrating my life like never before, and here I am, knock knock knockin’ on
heaven’s door. That rhymes, doesn’t it? I think I might even feel a song coming
on but I’m so tired and the words are slipping away and the music is fading
into a soft chant round my bed and Madala was spot on, he said when God says He
want you, we can’t run away. I know Bafo, I know. I’m not running anymore.”
Skollie, saint, scholar, hippest of hippies, imperfect
musician with a perfect imagination, Syd Kitchen was, like all great artists,
born to enrich his art and not himself. Plagued by drugs, alcohol and
depression, too much of an outlaw to be embraced by record companies, he
frequently sold his furniture to cover production costs of his albums, seduced
fans at concerts and music festivals worldwide with his dazzling ‘Afro-Saxon’
mix of folk, jazz, blues and rock interspersed with marvellously irreverent
banter, and finally became the subject of several compelling documentaries, one
of which - Fool in a Bubble -
premiered in New York in 2010.
Says Lee: “There are many creative geniuses in the world who
never receive the recognition they deserve. Syd Kitchen was one of them. He was
also a friend who asked me to write his biography. I was always intrigued by
the complexity and duality of his personality. But these facts alone were not
enough to persuade me to write this book. The primary reasons were that Syd’s
story was deeply compelling and needed to be told, and there are far too few
worthy literary portraits of South African musicians available.”
Scars that Shine written by Donvé Lee is published by Tracey
McDonald Publishers
PRINT ISBN: 978-0-620-70993-4
ePUB ISBN: 978-0-620-70994-1
PDF ISBN: 978-0-620-70995-8
Print recommended retail price: R260 (VAT Incl) More information
from Tracey on tracey@ilovebooks.co.za or 083 659 7489.
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