My Friend F W DeKlerk

I've known Mr F W DeKlerk for more than 40 years. In fact, we play golf together regularly to this very day. Upon hearing that I had planned to write my autobiography, Mr. DeKlerk graciously sent the following Endorsement of my undertaking, which I have been working on for over a year now.
__________________________________________________________________

F W DEKLERK

__________________________________________________________________

I have known Henry Holloway for more than 40 years. We first met in the late 1960s in Vereeniging, the main town of the industrial area known as the Vaal Triangle (the “Detroit of South Africa”) south of Johannesburg. I was a young attorney at the time and Henry was the editor of the local newspaper

Even then Henry’s love for good music was evident. He founded the Vereeniging Jazz Club, and my wife and I were among the invitees to his concerts.

It was almost inevitable that Henry would become a music broadcaster, and during his more than 30 years of presenting radio programs, hundreds of thousands have enjoyed his expertise on the air.

The Americans paid tangible tribute to Henry for these broadcasts in 2003 when he received their “Golden Bandstand Award” in Los Angeles. On receiving news of this award, I wrote to Henry to express my felicitations. Uniquely, Henry is one of just two non-Americans in history who have been honoured with this prestigious award. Among the 50 or so Americans who had previously received the Golden Bandstand Award are Frank Sinatra, Glenn Miller, Benny Goodman and Duke Ellington. What good company for Henry to be in!

Now Henry is putting the final touches to his autobiography, “Swing, Sing and All That Jazz” (the same title as his long-running radio series) which tells the life story of this internationally-acclaimed “man of music”.

Whether you’re interested in music or not (who isn’t?) I suggest that you obtain a copy of this book.

It is my pleasure to write this Endorsement for Henry Holloway’s autobiography.

 

F W DE KLERK

FORMER STATE PRESIDENT OF SOUTH AFRICA

     P O Box 15785 Panorama 7506  Tel:  (021) 930 0966/0986  Fax:  (021) 930 0995

      Posbus 15785 Panorama 7506    Tel:  (021) 930 0966/0986  Faks:  (021) 930 0995

     Email:  fw@fwdeklerk.org  http://www.fwdeklerk.org/

__________________________________________________________________

Frederik Willem de Klerk (born 18 March 1936), often known as F. W. de Klerk, was the seventh and last State President of apartheid-era South Africa, serving from September 1989 to May 1994. De Klerk was also leader of the National Party (which later became the New National Party) from February 1989 to September 1997.

De Klerk is best known for engineering the end of apartheid, South Africa's racial segregation policy, and supporting the transformation of South Africa into a multi-racial democracy by entering into the negotiations that resulted in all citizens, including the country's black majority, having equal voting and other rights. He won the Félix Houphouet-Boigny Peace Prize in 1991, the Prince of Asturias Award in 1992 and the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993 (along with Nelson Mandela) for his role in the ending of apartheid.

Henry Holloway writes:

I started my broadcasting career in 1974. I guess you can call me VERY lucky that I “pestered” the South African Broadcasting Corporation’s (SABC) “English Service” in early 1974 to do a radio series on Glenn Miller. The then Deputy Head of the English Service, Stephen O’Reilly, to whom I spoke at the time, said to me: “Can YOU do a series on Glenn Miller for us?” Well, I did not expect such a response to my hopeful approach, but as I had already possessed by then a massive Glenn Miller collection of records (and some books), I immediately said “Yes!”  To cut a long story short, my first “Miller Magic” series began during July of 1974 and ran for 21 weeks.

Over the years I have had the great fortune to meet and become friends with numerous legendary music friends as a result of my radio broadcasts. People like Count Basie, Les Brown, Bob Crosby, Doris Day, Neal Hefti, Sammy Cahn, Teddy Wilson, Steve Allen, Terry Gibbs, Sammy Kaye, Dr Paul Tanner, George Montgomery, Milt Bernhart, Ray Evans, Frank Chacksfield, Johnny Desmond, Buddy DeFranco, Peanuts Hucko, Herb Ellis, Tex Beneke, Paula Kelly, Abe Most, Dodie O’Neill, Larry O’Brien, Hal Shaper, George T. Simon, Ralph Carmichael; these and others that I can name as “friends” or “very good acquaintances”.

In the near future, with the help of a couple of my dear friends, I will tell you about my experiences with these wonderful people.

Sincerely,


Henry Holloway

http://www.fmr.co.za/about-us/presenters/henry-holloway
http://www.bigbandlibrary.com/bigbandreunion2008.html