STARLITE MEMORIES

MAYBE better known to people from Gauteng, Dov Fedler is one of this country’s most revered cartoonists.

Now retired, for 50 years he was the political cartoonist for The Star.

In his new book, Starlite Memories, he recalls the opportunity he had in the 1980s to achieve a lifelong dream – to direct a movie. A task that he found himself hilariously ill-equipped to perform.

The resulting film was called Timer Joe 3 and Fedler would not expect you to have heard of it, let alone to have viewed it.

The recollections of many amusing inept incidents involved in shooting the film are for me the highlight of the book, its chapters of autobiographical memoir. These are rich in detail, nostalgia, and a delicious, gentle sense of humour runs through them.

Along the way are many gloriously colourful family members and friends, and one also learns of some South African icons that share Fedler’s humble beginnings in the Johannesburg suburb of Mayfair.

And also talk of famous stars and movies permeates the memories shared.

“Nostalgia, as some genius noted, is not what it used to be. Gershwin is forgotten. I am out of place with the quick march to the instant answer.

“Memory has always been my compass. I have found my way by what came before.”

The memories may all have Johannesburg as their locale, but their power to resonate is because Dov Fedler’s personal experiences are so normal.

They echo my belief that the best humour is that which hits closes too home.

My three decades living in Johannesburg were at the height of Fedler’s era at The Star and his cartoons were often the first thing I looked for in the paper.

For those pleasures and for the total delight that is Starlite Memories, thank you Mr Fedler.

And as Bob Hope intoned – “Thanks for the Memory”. |

Richfield