(Tom
Dennen)
Story
courtesy of The Idler, The Mercury, dated Wednesday October 4, 2017
“Tom Dennen, who died last week was one of
Durban’s eccentric fringe characters who seemed to be perpetually pursuing one
or other often obscure cause. Tom was an Irish-American who fell in love with
Durban and at the same time others were scrambling for foreign passports, took
out South African citizenship.
When I first met him, he was editing the
Durban Arts magazine plus running a public relations operation. He was a lot of
fun, an ubiquitous figure.
Then his interests – mainly criticism of
the boom/bust world economic system – seemed to take him off the radar. I
hadn’t actually seen him in years, though I did get emails. One, fairly recent,
quoted Lynn Lavner: “There are a number of mechanical devices which increase
sexual arousal, particularly in women. Chief among these is the Mercedes-Benz
380SL.”
That was Tom. It seems he was also writing
a book which would be a critique of the International Economic System and the
way South Africa could escape its consequences. I wonder how far he’d got? –
The Idler