Commentary

The Weekender (Business Day), Johannesburg, October 21, 2006

READERS of Footloose will be familiar with the phenomenon by which the subjects of authorised biographies suddenly get cold feet when biographers do their jobs properly and dig out the dirt on them.

Nelson Mandela's success in forcing Anthony Sampson to cut out a reference to his support for necklacing is one example. Another is the row between Nadine Gordimer and her authorised-biographer-who-now-isn't, Ronald Suresh Roberts.

It is, therefore, with growing respect for Desmond Tutu that Footloose discovered the Arch² plays things differently.

An account of relations between Tutu and his authorised biographer and former press secretary, John Allen, was given by Allen in a little-reported speech to the Cape Town Press Club recently.

In the biography, Rabble-Rouser for Peace, Allen makes the disclosure - potentially damaging to Tutu's reputation as a man of principle - that in the early 1990s the cleric had appealed to the then foreign minister, Pik Botha, for help in keeping his errant son, Trevor, out of prison. This was after the youngster had been convicted of making a bomb threat at Johannesburg airport.

I recently visited Trinity Church, in Wall Street, Manhattan, to discuss Archbishop Tutu's life and work. Trinity has posted a video webcast of the interview on their site.

Trinity has other excellent video material and documentaries on Desmond Tutu, which are also available on their site. In particular, the film "Faithful Defiance: A Portrait of Desmond Tutu" (link is the high-resolution version) contains footage of events in "Rabble-Rouser".

The Sunday Times

Comment - Atticus

September 24, 2006

It could have been a kiss of life to the beleaguered Church of England: Desmond Tutu has revealed he was once approached to become Archbishop of Canterbury.

A forthcoming biography tells how Tutu was contacted by a church official in 1990 to see if he’d be eligible to succeed Robert Runcie. At the time Tutu was Archbishop of Cape Town. He had won the Nobel peace prize, was renowned for his opposition to apartheid and had even featured in a Michael Jackson video.

In the event, the then prime minister Margaret Thatcher picked solid, uncharismastic George Carey, one of two names presented to her, and the following decade saw a record decline in church fortunes. At the time, Tutu’s name was never mentioned as a possible candidate.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/southafrica/story/0,,1881205,00.html  

Johannesburg dispatch

If Desmond Tutu is guilty of craving fame, he has made good use of it, writes David Beresford

Tuesday September 26, 2006
Guardian Unlimited

About 10 years ago, when the truth commission and the activities of South African death squads were still fresh in people's minds, a basket of fruit was delivered to my door. A card said it had come from Archbishop Desmond Tutu. I shouted at my family to take cover.

After a few prods with a broomstick persuaded me that it was not a bomb, and I had calmed down, I remembered that I had asked the archbishop to launch a book I had written. He had been unable to do so because of pressure of work. The fruit basket was by way of apology.

So I was prepared, when I took delivery last week of a parcel containing the archbishop's biography, Rabble-Rouser for Peace, and did not have recourse to a broomstick. In fact I was reluctant to open it at all, so gorgeous was the wrapping: shocking pink paper tied with gold ribbon in the shape of a cross, with an ornamental crucifix and a parchment dove of peace.

The Guardian: commentisfree

Stephen Bates
September 22, 2006 11:01 AM

The news that Desmond Tutu, the South African church leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner, was sounded out about becoming Archbishop of Canterbury in preference to George Carey in 1990 is likely to cause liberal members of the Church of England to sob quietly into their cocoa. If only, they'll be muttering.

Since the revelation comes in Tutu's authorised biography, Rabble-rouser for Peace, written by his longtime press officer John Allen, I think we can assume it's true. The idea was stymied because as a South African Tutu could not swear allegiance to the Queen, as is required by the Established Church of England. That is clearly a much more important priority for a Christian leader in this country than any question of mere belief.

Commentators, writers and leaders have provided pre-publication comments for the jacket of “Rabble-Rouser for Peace.” Among comments which will be used, on the jackets of either the U.S. or S.A./U.K. editions:

“A superb book, showing what an extraordinary peacemaker—and warm human being—Desmond Tutu is. It makes fascinating reading.” — Mary Robinson, President, Realizing Rights: The Ethical Globablization Initiative, and Former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights

“Apartheid never defeated (Desmond Tutu) because of his passionate belief that the status of every human being is God-given and indelible… This book tells his story: how he overcame illness and every kind of opposition—from the misguided to the blatantly wicked—with faith, determination, exuberance and an irrepressible sense of humour. These are Christlike gifts… I read (Rabble Rouser for Peace) with a growing sense of admiration and gratitude. I shall read it again. If you choose to read it, it will warm you and make you laugh, dance and cry with Tutu.” — +Sentamu Ebor, Archbishop of York

“This is a riveting book. John Allen has given us a profound portrait of one of the few great human beings of our age and of the country he did so much to save. He shows Archbishop Tutu in all his courage, his uproarious humor, his passion. And he discloses much that happened behind the scenes in the struggle that finally brought a peaceful revolution to South Africa.” — Anthony Lewis, former New York Times columnist