Hugh Slatter
Air Vice Marshal Hugh Slatter – Hugh now lives with Jayne, his wife of 50 years in a small fishing village on the Oregon coast in the USA. He still consults for General Electric Aviation and its subsidiary CFM, focusing on new engine programs for Boeing Commercial Airplanes. His interest in aviation spans some 60 years, including both military and commercial fields.
His sons and grandchildren live in Ohio and New York, and he has a brother in South Africa.
Writing this book had been on his mind for many years. Friends and family eventually prevailed upon him to sit down and write this so his side of the saga would be known and a piece of the country’s history would be on the record.
Nick Price
Nick Price won three Major Championships, 18 times on the PGA Tour, five times in Europe and nine times on the Sunshine tour. He was, for a time rated the best golfer in the world and inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2003. He has made an enormous contribution to the game on and off the course and is widely considered one of the most popular players in the history of the game. Father of three, he lives in Jupiter, Florida with his wife Sue and remains a keen outdoorsman with a love of the sea and the feel of a fishing rod in his hands.
Andre Scheepers
Andre Scheepers
After a childhood on a farm in the Rhodesian bush, Andre Scheepers joined the Rhodesian Light Infantry commandos, followed by the SAS in 1974. In the thick of the action during the Rhodesian Bush War he was wounded on 13 occasions. Turning down an opportunity to go into the British SAS, he elected instead to join a seminary and later became a priest. A true leader, beloved by his men, his calmness in extreme danger coupled with his ability to think his way out of tight corners made him the quintessential SAS officer.
John Sharp
John Sharp
John Sharp was born in Kroonstad, South Africa, in 1952 and spent his first nine years on his parents’ farm in what was then the Orange Free State. Home schooled by his mother, he spent the majority of his time roaming the veld with a .22, either barefoot or bareback on an old mare. He completed his education at Diocesan College in Cape Town at the end of 1969.
He moved to Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) in 1977 and got his LPHL (Learner Professional Hunters Licence) in 1978 with his full licence following in 1983.
He is one of a rare breed and is one of the most experienced big-game hunters operating in Southern Africa today. While adhering to the strict ethics of Fair Chase, John epitomises the authentic ‘Great White Hunter’ of legend.
He has never married and is passionate about conserving Africa’s wildlife for the benefit of future generations.
Hannes Wessels
Hannes Wessels
A 14th generation white African, Hannes Wessels was born in 1956 in what was then Salisbury in Southern Rhodesia (now Harare, Zimbabwe) but grew up in Umtali on the Mozambique border. As a young boy, school holidays were spent with Rangers in the Rhodesia Game department but time in his early teens on safari in Mozambique with the late Wally Johnson were a big influence. During this time Wessels met Robert Ruark whose love of Africa, its people, politics and the written word left a lasting impression.
After leaving school, he saw action in the bush- war waged against the forces of Robert Mugabe’s Patriotic Front before acquiring a law degree which he chose not to use. He hunted big game professionally in Zimbabwe, Zambia and Tanzania in a twenty-year career. In 1994 he was severely gored by a wounded buffalo which almost cost him his life.
He has published ‘Strange Tales from Africa’ in America which is a collection of stories about people and places encountered by him in the course of his hunting days. His biography of PK van der Byl (former Rhodesian Defence Minister) includes a revised history of the Rhodesian political imbroglio. His two books about the Rhodesian SAS titled ‘A Handful of Hard Men’ and “We Dared to Win’ have been well received at home and abroad. He has recently published ‘The 15th Club’ which he co-wrote with former world number one golfer, Nick Price.
He is married to Mandy and has two daughters; Hope 18 and Jana 15 and lives in Darling in the Cape Province of South Africa. While no longer directly involved in hunting he retains business interests in this sector and remains keenly interested in all matters relating to African wildlife and conservation.
Barry Cohen
Barry Cohen
Barry earned his law degree from the University of Cape Town 1979 before being involved in the music and video industry in Australia and New Zealand, and later upon returning to South Africa, he launched the of lottery scratch-cards, ‘Fantasy League’ (later SuperSport ‘Dream League’), and the Springbok Supporters Club, as well as being the CEO of the Cancer Association of South Africa (CANSA), before building and operating the South African Golf Museum and the Southern Africa Golf Hall of Fame
Recipient of a number of awards including the 2014 Contribution to South African Golf award.
Blazing the Trail, namely the untold story of how black golfers helped bring down apartheid, and beat both Gary Player and Tiger Woods has received excellent reviews locally and internationally.
He presently resides in Hout Bay with his son Rory 19, and daughter Jenna 20
Gary Albyn
Gary Albyn
After leaving the Rhodesian Air Forcein the late 70s, Gary Albyn converted to helicopters and remains passionate about aviation to this day. He also has an abiding love for Africa, its history, people, and wildlife.
He lives with his wife Cathy in California, USA.