August 1, 2011. It’s a curious and eccentric affair, this BlackBessie (Evita Bezuidenhout’s latest book), but then I suppose that’s fitting, seeing we’re talking about the one and only “Tannie” Evita Bezuidenhout here.
When I was offered this book to review, I immediately leapt at it, like a boereseun to melktert en koffie, or something like that. But I must confess, it’s not really what I expected. So I decided to go to the source . . . and find out why it’s so important for people today to back up their lives on a BlackBessie.
Garth Johnstone: You talk quite a bit about this “solar flare” incident. Do you live in fear of a catastrophic solar flare that will wipe out mankind’s satellite communications systems? And what would be the consequences?
Evita: We take so much for granted. Technology is as fragile as a silk parachute. The force of nature is far cleverer than any protection we might wish for. My answer is: back up all your essential information not on another technologocal item, but on paper! Let’s not wait for the day that when the lights go out, the person with a pencil in his hand will be king of the castle.
GJ: I believe you do have a BlackBerry?
Evita: Yes I do. I keep it on my person all the time, but always in sleeping mode.
GJ: Are you an avid communicator, browser, social media “babe”?
Evita: No, the phone works for me like any Japanese secretary would.
GJ: Do you Tweet, text and “Facebook” your friends?
Evita: I have a Twitter account: @TannieEvita and to date have 8 000 followers! Spread the news.
GJ: Are you one of those folks who “would die without my BlackBerry”?
Evita: No, I would die without oxygen!
GJ: I’ve noticed that the BlackBessie is a very cunning size. Is it just small enough for people to carry around in handbags? How did you conceive of BB fans using the BlackBessie?
Evita: I just say: don’t press SEND, turn page. There is nothing as nice as a scribble through your journal. It’s nice surfing the net, yes, but what are you looking for? The journal is about you and yours, not about the world and theirs.
GJ: You urge people to write a lot, about their fears, about their dreams and laughter.
Evita: If you keep everything you need to remember in your head, your head will be full of trivia and garbage. Make lists and empty your head so that it is there for new ideas and new challenges. Once something is written down and you read it, it becomes more real than as a vague idea somewhere in the back of your mind.
GJ: Is writing a cathartic process for you?
Evita: I’ve done it all my life. It’s not a new therapy.
GJ: Any advice to your impressionable fans about the benefits and pleasure of writing
Evita: It’s very private. You don’t have to share everything with the world as on Twitter.
GJ: You’ve become synonymous with your home town, Darling. For those not in the know, what is life like in Darling?
Evita: Darling is a small town with hard-working people. Hot in summer and Cape-wintery in winter. An hour from the airport, so it’s an hour from New York.
GJ: Are you able to walk the streets and go shopping unmolested, or are you mobbed by fans?
Evita: I am never molested. I am embraced and greeted and I greet back. There are Evita tourists, who come and photograph the road signs that announce The Evita Bezuidenhout Boulevard. It’s on the GPS and Google Earth.
GJ: What do you love most about Darling?
Evita: The fact that the name is English for Skattie!
GJ: We’re talking technology here. Or moving away from relying on technology. Is your home a hi-tech home? Is it full of computers, iPads, cameras, laptops and flat screen TVs? Or is it more old school?
Evita: There is a computer for my grandchildren but they have laptops. Otherwise a TV that’s very seldom on. I still watch VHS films. But what I have are cats and dogs, flowers and bird-feeders. Soft chairs to read in and big beds to rest on. Lots of books and photographs. And we play LP records!
GJ: What will the BlackBessie do for “Brand Evita”?
Evita: It will hopefully remind you who buy and use it, that the priority is the brand that has your name attached to.
GJ: Tell us about your relationship with Bessie (the human Bessie)? How long do you go back? What was the nature of the relationship, how did it unfold and what is the status today?
Evita: Bessie was one of the first people to assist me at the Perron. She’s a wonder with how to organise a kitchen, how to order from the supermarket and the butcher for catering for 150 people over a weekend. How to talk to the staff and the guests. She is also a trained nurse and now she is in Parliament and the future of our land is safe in her hands. She is helping me with Xhosa and I am taking her to Rome next year to see the Sistine Chapel.
GJ: How can people get hold of tannie if they need to discuss the BlackBessie issue, for feedback etc?
Evita: Twitter: @TannieEvita and e-mail evita@evita.co.za. And our website is essential www.evita.co.za or for The Darling Trust which is vital for our community www.thedarlingtrust.org
**Published by Umuzi (an imprint of Random House/Struik).
The Ridge Online regularly publishes feature interviews with some of SA’s most talented and emerging writers. Watch this space for more.