ROSE WILLIS is the mind and spirit behind an intriguing, long established and now expanded series of historical newsletters, with a focus on the Karoo. Toverview founder Maeder Osler is privileged to have met her, and occasionally visits her in Bloemfontein, where she is recovering from a traumatic experience, while bravely and charmingly continuing her research. (She likes blueberry muffins).
She is also the author of the popular Karoo Cookbook (published by Struik in 2008), and co-author of Yeomen of the Karoo: The Story of the Imperial Yeomanry Hospital at Deelfontein, independently published in 2016.
For a number of years, Rose has published ROSE’S ROUNDUP a monthly newsletter containing snippets of general history. The subscription is R200 for 12 copies. If you would like to subscribe, contact Rose on rosewillis705@gmail.com.
More recently, in response to the Forgotten Highway initiative, Rose has also launched THE FORGOTTEN HIGHWAY EXPRESS, a newsletter with snippets about the Karoo and the Forgotten Highway, and sponsored by die Karoo Foundation. To download the August edition, with fascinating items on the mapping of South Africa’s rural areas, click here. If you would like to receive more copies, contact rose on: rosewillis705@gmail.com.
For an earlier article titled ‘Rose Willis, legendary Karoo storyteller’ on the Karoospace website, click here.
Featured image: Rose Willis with her most recent book, ‘Secrets of the Enchanted House’.