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The Society of Malaŵi Journal

appointment. After far too many near-misses, to speed matters along, I suggested to
George that the use of a wheelchair would be beneficial to his aching limbs and his
perennial complaint of “feeling shakey”. George was an incorrigible hypochondriac
despite his fortitude in battling serious health issues. My ruse proved a sad failure.
With more “puff” available due to his being transported in a wheelchair, the corridors
of Peterborough Regional Hospital reverberated to the sound of KAR marching songs
while passers-by of perceived African descent were greeted with his waved walking
stick, brandished sword-like, accompanied by Swahili and Chinyanja greetings.
Arriving at the appropriate clinic in good time for his appointments ever remained a
close-run thing, no matter at what hour we had set off. To write off such behaviour as
an eccentricity of advancing years would be to severely underestimate a strong
personality and a brain that remained needle sharp up until the last time I visited him,
at his Orton Waterville Care Home, just a few short days before he died.
Adieu, my old friend. Ulendo wotetezeka.

90 birthday celebration: George enthusiastically addresses a crown of lamb after
th
unhesitatingly intoning a Grace in Latin, of considerable duration and
complexity, that he had acquired as a student at St John’s College, Cambridge.

David Stuart-Mogg was CEO of the parastatal Malawi Hotels Group and Soche
Tours and Travel. In Malaŵi, he represented the interests of Tourism
International (London) Ltd. subsequent to a Kenya posting, and after several
years engaged in developing emerging tourism markets in the Middle East.

Since 2001, he has been the Honorary Editor of the Society of Malaŵi Journal
(Historical & Scientific).

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