About Len Kloosman:
Born in South Africa, Len Kloosman is an only child. As a result of his father (consulting engineer) being transferred to various factories, he attended five different primary schools in as many years. His high school years were spent at Dale College in King Williams Town where he matriculated in 1956. He studied medicine at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg and qualified in 1964. His intern years were served at the blacks only Baragwanath Hospital on the outskirts of Soweto. On completing his intern year, he married and served as Casualty Officer at the Germiston general Hospital for a year before moving to the gold mining town of Stifontein to take up general practice.
Divorced two years later, Kloosman joined an import/export company. His brief of medical sales resulted in his travelling extensively through Rhodesia, Zambia, Malawi, Mozambique, Angola and Zaire over the next year. He returned to general practice in the town of Krugersdorp where he ran two separate consulting rooms (one for whites and one for blacks).
Fluent in both English and Afrikaans, Kloosman entered politics partaking in the 1974 election. Though not winning the seat, he reduced the (Apartheid) National Party majority substantially. That same year he obtained a Master's degree in medicine from the University of Pretoria. It was at this time that he became acquainted with high-ranking military and political figures in his neighbourhood, including the State Vice President. Through these associates he met one of the protagonists in the story. Whilst in Angola, he realised that the solution to South Africa's problems was not a military one but primarily a political one.
Australia seemed to offer the best home from home and so it was that Kloosman migrated there in 1978 and became naturalised three years later. Today the writer lives in Sydney and is still actively engaged in general practice.
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