Former Lavender Hill man’s book finds hope amid adversity
Former Lavender Hill resident Jonathan Petersen, 58, has written a book about his experiences growing up in the community.
Echoes of Love and Resilience, a self-published book, was launched at a venue in Pelican Heights, on Sunday November 10.
"It explores themes of family bonds, resilience, and hope amid adversity. Through heartfelt narratives, it recounts stories of love, struggle, and the lessons learned from both triumphs and failures,” says Mr Petersen, who now lives in Mitchell’s Plain.
He has been journalling and writing poetry since childhood and he used some of these writings as a “reflection of the love, challenges and triumphs that defined our lives, despite the struggles we faced".
His elder sisters, Edna Wilson and Benjamina Jacobs, helped him fill in the blanks or his memories, he says.
“I grew up in Lavender Hill and it was during this time that I experienced many of the events that shaped my outlook on life. Hence this book is about my childhood years, growing up in Lavender Hill,” says Mr Petersen.
His life took a turn for the worse, he says, when he was forced to move out of Lavender Hill in 1986.
"At the time I was involved in the struggle against Apartheid, and I was detained under the State of Emergency in 1985. The regime declared another State of Emergency in 1986, and my mother, Shelly Petersen, feared for my arrest or even the worse. She then instructed me to go stay with my eldest sister, Joan Abrahams, in Heideveld and from then I never returned home.
“I settled in Mitchell's Plain in 1993 after I got married and started my own family.”
He is married to Carmen, and the couple have two daughters, Jodine and Tracey, and a son, Leowenzen.
Writing the book was a “deeply personal and rewarding project", he says, recalling that even as a teenager he had spoken to his father about writing one.
In 2021, on July 8, “also on my grandson’s birthday, and 29 years after my dad passed away, memories of the discussions my dad and I had, determined that the purpose of the book would be 90% about my life in Lavender Hill", he says.
The book explores the vulnerability of his childhood thoughts and his experiences with gangs in the area, and while he never became a gangster, he “navigated” the streets and learnt how to “duck and dive” to avoid them, he says.
Mr Petersen says he is already working on a second book that will "delve deeper into themes of personal growth, family, and community resilience".
Echoes of Love and Resilience is R240 in paperback and the e-book is R90 on Amazon. To order the book directly from Mr Petersen, send him a WhatsApp at 078 869 2817.
