E N D
The Power of One is a fictionalized story of Bryce Courtenay’s childhoodBorn (August 14 1933) and raised in South Africa and received his early education there. Spent the majority of his adolescent life in South Africa- spent his early years on an isolated farm.Began boxing for self-defense as a five year old at private school and then moved to BarbertonHis final year in Africa he spent in the copper mines of Central Africa, before he moved to England to complete his education.
A German music teacher named Doc gave young Courtenay his true childhood education, which was followed by South African boarding school and Journalism school in London.Both African culture and his time in the copper mines had a penetrating and profound effect on him.Forbidden to return to South Africa because he had led an educational program for native Africans- moved to Sydney, AustraliaHe married a woman named Benita and had three sons, Brett, Adam, and Damon. Damon, a hemophiliac, contracted HIV from a blood transfusion during the early days of the disease.
Though Peekay’s story parallels the author’s childhood, Courtenay is quick to point out that Peekay is “larger than life.” Peekay’s intellectual faculties, athletic ability, and intrinsic goodness (demonstrated by his continual empathy for all types of people, even those whose characters are flawed) are at the core of the novel.