View from Zomba across the Palombe Plain to Mlanje Mountain

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Following law school in New Haven and two years with the New York City law firm of Lord, Day & Lord, I entered into direct contract with the Government of Nyasaland as it became the independent nation of Malawi. First as an Administrative Officer in the Establishments Division, and then as a Parliamentary Draftsman in the Attorney General's Chambers, I worked on Malawi's Constitution, laws, civil service regulations and treaties. The mid-1960s was a time of hope and optimism for Africa. I lived there in Zomba, Malawi's capital, for over two and a half years with my first wife, Georgina (Dinny), and our two young children, Angelisse and Christopher.

The two year-end letters that follow were sent to family and friends in 1965 and 1966. Click on each page to enlarge and read. Click on your browser's "back" button in order to select the next page.

Enlargements of the photographs included in the letters, plus additional photos, are posted at the bottom of the blog — click on each to view full screen. If anything prompts a question or comment, I can be reached via: karol@apertura.org.

The photo below was taken above the Little Ruo Basin on Malawi's Mlanje Mountain, while looking south-east toward Portuguese East Africa in March 1967 — again, click to enlarge, "back" to return.

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At Nkudzi Bay on Lake Malawi with Dinny's mother Faith and younger sister Wendy — Christmas Holiday 1965

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Individual photos from the letters. Click on each to enlarge. Click on your browser's "back" button to return.

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The Tuchila Hut on Mlanje Mountain — February 19, 1967.

The Mlanje Mountains.

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Christopher and Angelisse at Chilenda Camp on Malawi's Nyika Plateau — December 24, 1966

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My office at the Secretariat in Zomba - 1

My office at the Secretariat in Zomba - 2

Drafting Customs and Excise legislation for the new Republic of Malawi (formerly Nyasaland) — 1966.

The completed loose-leaf Public Service Regulations (formerly General Orders); drafts of new Customs and Excise legislation; and galley proofs of Malawi's Republican Constitution of 1966.

Red tape and straight pins — remnants of the British Empire.

A corner in the front room of my studio in Orford, New Hampshire.

A source of pleasant memories.