Imagine Bermuda wishes to express condolences on the passing of Nadine Gordimer, a Nobel Prize-Winning Author from South Africa, who was a close friend of the late-Nelson Mandela. From a young age she was one ‘walking her walk’, offering an example of personal transformation to fellow whites under an apartheid system.

Her relationship with Mandela began when she became involved in the Anti-Apartheid movement in the early ‘60s. Gordimer assisted Madiba in editing his famous “I am prepared to die...” speech, that he used to conclude his court case on treason charges in 1962.

Ms Gordimer was an artist who demonstrated that ‘the pen was mightier than the sword’. She was first published at the age of 15 and went on to complete more than 30 books with some of these publications being banned by the Apartheid Regime. She received a number of awards for her writing, including the Booker Prize and the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1991.

Having courageously worked to end Apartheid, Nadine Gordimer had maintained that same spirit into her 90s. While a life-long member of the governing African National Congress (ANC), she — like her fellow Nobel laureate, Desmond Tutu — made it clear that true loyalty is to ‘principle’, rather than ‘personalities’. So she had publicly offered constructive criticism of the leadership of the ANC when she felt that this was required, and promoted the importance of an active civil society in order to ensure democracy.

It is perhaps symbolic of their connection that Nadine Gordimer has passed in the same week as that of the birthday of her belated friend Nelson Mandela.

A lunchtime discussion on what can be learned from Nelson Mandela and his legacy will be held in Cathedral Hall between 12:20pm and 1:30pm this Friday, July 18, the birthday of the late statesman. All are welcome to attend the event, which has been organised by Imagine Bermuda and the Human Rights Commission