Wentworth author documents his life journey
Cyril James has fulfilled his passion to write about his life and Wentworth.
HAVING had a hard-knock life that forced him to endure several hardships growing up, Cyril James could not ignore the desire to write about his life and Wentworth, making him today, a self-published author with four books to his name.
The talented author was born in Sydenham in 1945, from a Coloured mother who worked at a clothing factory and an Indian father who worked as a snack vendor at the Durban Indian Market. One of the first darkest moments of his life was when his father was murdered when he was still very young and had to leave school in grade 7.
“After his death, I began to stammer and withdrew from people and could not sit in anybody’s company, as I always felt they were discussing me,” he said.
After leaving school, Cyril got his first job at a grocery store where he delivered wood and coal with a loaded wheelbarrow to their homes in the area. “For a young boy my age it was tough work as I had to travel up hills and on gravel roads to reach people’s home. In those days electricity was scarce and people had to use coal stoves when cooking a pot of food.”
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Some of the other jobs he did to help keep the fires burning at home included selling cosmetics at the Victoria Street bridge, worked as a hawker selling fruits from a push-cart, worked as a carry boy and when he was older he became a ship cleaner at the Durban Harbour.
In 2009 he received an opportunity to work in construction which further took him to a mine in Zambia where he worked for 10 months, little did he know at the time that very opportunity would enable him to pursue a long hidden dream. “Nearby there was a computer school where I decided to enrol in a course. Upon completion of the course, to my joy, I received a Microsoft Office Application certificate.
“To my knowledge, there weren’t any Coloured writers in Durban and I wanted to be one of the first. When I retired from work in 2010, I decided to do just that with the intention of writing as many books as I can. Knowing nothing about writing a book back then, besides being an avid reader I took the chance.
“When people heard my plans they could not believe that I could do it, some even scoffed at my idea when it was mentioned. But with all that I am grateful to them for unwittingly goading me on, in spite of their negative comments. If it wasn’t for them I would have never have finished my first book called “Many a cold Night”. The book is a self-published account of his life and journey in finding peace after a lifetime of hard living.
Now four books later to his delight, Cyril has won two awards, one from the Wentworth Community Upliftment initiative and the other from the Minara Chamber of Commerce, as a highly commended author at their literary awards.
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From then on Cyril’s career as an author has seen him involved in a number of literary opportunities from exhibitions, book launches, radio interviews, documentaries as well as the 2019 Time of the Writer Festival which he described as a riveting experience. Today he lives a life of contentment alongside his wife, Linda who has been a source of love and support for him.
“In the past, we were denied such glory but overcame it all through our struggle icons. I cannot believe all the good things that have come my way as a writer,” he said with pride.
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