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News24
04-06-2025
- Entertainment
- News24
Groundbreaking voice of gay literature, Edmund White, dies at 85
Edmund White, pioneering gay writer and influential figure in 1970s gay literature, has died aged 85. Best known for A Boy's Own Story (1982), he transformed narratives of gay life and shaped the coming-out genre. An activist, biographer, and prolific storyteller, White's works spanned decades, celebrating LGBTQI+ identity with authenticity and wit. The pioneering gay writer Edmund White died aged 85. Diagnosed with HIV in the late 1970s, he often said he had not expected to live nearly as long as he did. White was a central figure in the emergence of openly gay writing in the 1970s, a core member of the group of New York-based writers who called themselves The Violet Quill. Before that, White noted, gay stories were written for straight people and almost always ended tragically. White was born in 1940 in Cincinnati, Ohio, and grew up in Evanston, Illinois. He was well-placed to symbolise and write about the then-widespread experience of gay men and lesbian women doing their utmost to get out of small-town USA and find freedom in the big city, usually New York or San Francisco. White described this experience and what followed in his first autobiographical novel, A Boy's Own Story, which made his name when it was published in 1982. South African Booker-winner Damon Galgut, in a 2023 interview with White, said he still recalled 'my double excitement' at reading A Boy's Own Story, 'not only at its subject matter – astonishingly 'new' at the time – but how richly it was rendered'. Galgut also complimented White on his 'deftness with the deadpan throwaway line'. American poet, critic and editor John Freeman said of gay men who read A Boy's Own Story when it came out that 'some of them... feel he saved their life. Some he made feel less alone. Then there are people he simply entertained, and you'd be hard-pressed to find a more companionable storyteller'. He also noted that 'the category of coming-out story did not exist before he wrote A Boy's Own Story'. White had attended the University of Michigan before moving to New York, where he worked as a journalist for Newsweek, Time-Life, The Saturday Review, Horizon and The New Republic. His early pair of novels, Forgetting Elena (1973) and Nocturnes for the King of Naples (1978), were baroque stories with a touch of fantasy, but he also wrote The Joy of Gay Sex with therapist Charles Silverstein; it was a ground-breaking work of open-minded sexual exploration, published in 1977. White joked that had it not been for Silverstein's sex-positive influence, the book might have been called The Tragedy of Gay Sex. White described gay life across the USA in States of Desire (1980) and published his autobiographical A Boy's Own Story in 1982. By then, the HIV/Aids pandemic was hitting gay men hard, and White was a co-founder of the activist group Gay Men's Health Crisis, though he moved to Paris in 1983. A Boy's Own Story would be followed, in due course, by The Beautiful Room Is Empty (1988) and The Farewell Symphony (1997), forming a trilogy of novels that could be said to have summed up gay life for American men over four decades. In France, White wrote a comprehensive biography of Jean Genet, a notoriously tricky figure in French literary history. The resultant tome, Genet: A Biography (1993), won many prizes, including the Pulitzer in the USA. Having published so much fictionalised autobiography, White's non-fiction autobiographical works came at the story of his life from an angle: My Lives (2005) worked through themes such as family, sex, art and therapy non-chronologically; City Boy (2009) focused on his life in New York, a city to which he had returned in 1990; and The Loves of My Life (2025) covered his wildly promiscuous and interesting sex life and long-term friendships. His essays were published in a collection entitled The Burning Library (1994). White's other novels include The Married Man (2000), Fanny: A Fiction (2003), Hotel de Dream (2007), Our Young Man (2016) and The Humble Lover (2023).
Telegraph
23-04-2025
- Telegraph
South Africa's biggest and best Cape Winelands hotel is back
As I entered a valley of decades-old vineyards, kitchen gardens and lush meadows, just 30 minutes east of Cape Town International Airport, the air smelled green and sweet. Rooibos-meets-Shiraz, with a hint of manure. I collected warm eggs from a fleet of roaming egg-mobiles; nifty contraptions used to transport hens from one patch of fresh pasture to the next. Soil fertilisation, the way nature intended. Spread across 1,500 acres, Spier farm and its adjacent hotel reopened in March 2025, following a year-long refurbishment, which included a bold downsizing from 153 to 80 rooms. What was once a popular conferencing venue with a bird of prey rehabilitation centre is now focussing on quality over quantity. The swimming pool has been lengthened to 20 metres and more than 55,000 shrubs have been propagated and planted in the landscaped grounds. There's a much-improved spa – with infrared sauna, bathhouse and hammam – which utilises farm-grown ingredients such as snowbush and rose geranium. Before Spier's makeover, which was masterminded by the London design firm Fusion, the colour scheme was eclectic. White and peach with flourishes of ochre and multicoloured mosaic. Perfectly pleasant, albeit slightly incoherent. The new Spier, however, has progressed toward heritage greens, brass fixtures and clay tiles. Many of the furnishings have been expertly upcycled from the original hotel, such as reupholstered slipper chairs and restored Chinese tables. Tactility is, perhaps, the highest compliment you can pay a property. In the revamped bedrooms I couldn't help but stroke lamb's wool carpets and green velvet couches. The result feels robust and elegant. But also, much more in keeping with the working farm and vineyards that surround it. Lots of cut flowers, perennial herbs and wine bottles on display. A bucolic, semi-bush vibe, close to nature, abundant with birdlife. Guests can spot fish eagles, purple herons and African darters – among dozens of other species. The much-improved lobby feels more like a grand living room than a formal check-in space. Black wattle logs crackle on its open fires, beside bookshelves filled with Damon Galgut (The Promise) and Dipo Faloyin (Africa is not a Country). Meanwhile, a new shop supports local artisans, from Handmade Karoo Handgemaak soft toys to Crafters Corner ceramics. The restaurant, Veld, is now adorned with dozens of pieces from the Spier Arts Collection – more than 3,200 contemporary Southern African artworks. Two vast living chandeliers filled with orchids, fynbos and ferns loom over delicately arranged plates of farm-grown tomatoes, microgreens and figs. Up to 50 percent of the restaurant's ingredients are grown on site. Even Spier's oyster, chestnut and shiitake mushrooms sprout magically in a repurposed stable. And as for the organic beef cattle? They're moved around the farm in a similar rotation method to the chickens. All this great food pairs beautifully with wines that thrive in the carbon-rich soil. Spier's 21 Gables Chenin Blanc was named one of 2025's best wines in the world at the Master Winemaker 100 awards in Paris. Spier 2.0 is undoubtedly one of South Africa's most exciting hotel reopenings in recent times. And – for the British tourist – achievable at a reasonable price point. Book for August and you can find double rooms for as little as £210, including breakfast. Beyond Spier, Welsh chef Phil Carmichael opened Mill Street Bistro in nearby Stellenbosch last June. A passionate pickler, Phil's locavore menu leans on sauerkraut, kimchi and fermented seasonal vegetables. His wood-fired pork belly with pickled apple and chilli ketchup includes a slab of cracking the size of an outstretched palm. The bistro salad with sourdough croutons includes a prized Spier egg. Ten minutes away, another new restaurant, Die Stoep, opened at boutique winery Vriesenhof in December 2024 and marries wood-fired pizzas, grilled swordfish and charred figs with well-rested wines such as Bordeaux from 1990 and Chardonnay from 1994. There's also a brilliant new Drops of God wine tasting experience at nearby Le Grand Jardin Villa – an Alice in Wonderland-themed private villa (from £924 for six rooms, including breakfast). It takes place in the sprawling property's candlelit cellar and encourages guests to refine their senses of taste and smell with the help of 54 vials of scent, ranging from quince and butter to leather and pepper. Pizzas and salads are prepared by an in-house chef and visitors can also take a plunge in the lake via Zipline. No trip to the Western Cape is complete without a visit to Cape Town, which since August 2025 has been home to Palm House Boutique Hotel and Spa in the leafy suburb of Upper Wynberg (doubles from £193, including breakfast). This updated 1920s stately home is shaded by enormous palm trees and has views of Table Mountain, plus a delightful pool and spa. The food is good here, too. De Tafel specialises in locally foraged ingredients such as porcini mushrooms from Newlands Forest and samphire from the Atlantic coast. While Radisson is a brand you might usually associate with business trips rather than holidays, its Cape Town outpost is well worth considering on account of its spectacular Waterfront location (doubles from £294, including breakfast). The mostly sea-facing rooms have moved toward oceanic blues, sandy neutrals, and earthy tones, while this year will see further improvements, including a much-needed makeover of the hotel's Tobago's Restaurant and Terrace. Perhaps the most impressive recent refurb in the city, however, has taken place at five-star Cape Grace (doubles from £639, including breakfast). What was once filled with antiques and heavy curtains has been opened up to let in views of Table Mountain and the yacht-filled marinas of the V&A Waterfront. The hotel now feels more modern and vibrant, with lots of fresh orchids and proteas. A long-term collaboration with Cape Town's Norval Foundation will see the work of South African artists Nicholas Hlobo, Dada Khanyisa and Zanele Muholi displayed around the property. And a new restaurant, Heirloom, has already gained a solid reputation for its wine pairings and fine dining. The grilled black tiger prawns are exceptional, while the rainbow trout pairs perfectly with a glass of Waterford Sauvignon Blanc. A complimentary chauffeur service whisks guests to the city's world-renowned landmarks – because although Cape Town's hotel and restaurant scene seldom stands still, the highlights remain timeless, like breakfast atop Table Mountain, or sunset at Signal Hill. And that's precisely why I return each year. It's a place with the rare quality of feeling just like home, yet with enough of an annual refresh as to feel new and exciting. Simon Parker travelled as a guest of Spier; Le Grand Jardin Villa; Palm House Boutique Hotel and Spa; ; Cape Grace and Air France, which flies from London Heathrow to Cape Town via Paris during the European winter, alongside daily flights between Paris and Johannesburg year-round.
