Alan Stewart Paton (11 January 1903 – 12 April 1988) was a South African author and anti-apartheid activist.

Family[link]

Paton was born in Pietermaritzburg, Natal Province (now KwaZulu-Natal), the son of a minor civil servant.^[1] After attending Maritzburg College, he earned a Bachelor of Science degree at the University of Natal^[1] in his hometown, followed by a diploma in education. After graduation, Paton worked as a teacher, first at the Ixopo High School, and subsequently at a Maritzburg College^[1] While at Ixopo he met Dorrie Francis Lusted.^[1] They were married in 1928 and remained together until her death from emphysema in 1967.^[1] Their life together is documented in Paton's book Kontakion for You Departed, published in 1969. Paton and his secretary, Anne Hopkins, were married the same year.^[1]

Early career[link]

He served as the principal of Diepkloof Reformatory for young (African Black) offenders from 1935 to 1949, where he introduced controversial reforms of a progressive slant.^[1] Most notable among these were the open dormitory policy, the work permit policy, and the home visitation policy. Boys were initially housed in closed dorms. Once they had proven themselves trustworthy, they would be transferred to open dorms within the compound. Boys who showed high levels of trustworthiness would be permitted to work outside the compound. In some cases, boys were even permitted to reside outside the compound under the supervision of a care family. Interesting to note is that fewer than 1% of ten thousand boys given home leave during Paton's years at Diepkloof ever broke their trust by failing to return.

After Publishing[link]

After the publishing of multiple books in 1950, Paton was moved from lower class life to middle/upper class off the wealth of his books.

Paton volunteered for service during World War II, but was refused. After the war he took a trip, at his own expense, to tour correctional facilities across the world. He toured Scandinavia, England, continental Europe, and the United States of America. During his time in Norway, he began work on his seminal novel Cry, The Beloved Country, which he would complete over the course of his journey, finishing it on Christmas Eve in San Francisco in 1946.^[1] There, he met Aubrey and Marigold Burns, who read his manuscript and found a publisher to publish it. The editor Maxwell Perkins, noted for editing novels of Ernest Hemingway and Thomas Wolfe, would guide Paton's first novel through publication with Scribner's.

Opposition to apartheid[link]

In 1948, four months after the publication of Cry, The Beloved Country, the separatist National Party came to power in South Africa. In 1953 Paton founded the Liberal Party of South Africa, which fought against the apartheid legislation introduced by the National Party. He remained the president of the SALP until its forced dissolution by the apartheid regime in the late 1960s, officially because its membership comprised both blacks and whites. Paton was a friend of Bernard Friedman, founder of the Progressive Party (South Africa).^[2] Paton's writer colleague Laurens van der Post, who had moved to England in the 1930s, helped the party in many ways. Van der Post knew that the South African Secret Police was aware that he was paying money to Paton, but could not stop it by legal procedures. Paton himself was noted for his peaceful opposition to the apartheid system, as were many others in the party, though some did take a more direct, violent route. Consequently, the party did have some stigma attached to it as a result of these actions. Paton's passport was confiscated on his return from New York in 1960, where he had been presented with the annual Freedom Award.^[3] It was not returned for another ten years.

Paton retired to Botha's Hill, where he resided until his death. He is honored at the Hall of Freedom of the Liberal International organization.^[4]

Other works[link]

Paton's second and third novels, Too Late the Phalarope (1953) and Ah, but Your Land is Beautiful (1981), and his short stories, Tales From a Troubled Land (1961), all deal with the same racial themes that concerned the author in his first novel.^[3] Ah, but Your Land is Beautiful was built on parallel life stories, letters, speeches, news and records in legal proceedings, and mixed fictional and real-life characters, such as Donald Molteno, Albert Lutuli and Hendrik Verwoerd. The novel was in essence historical fiction, giving an accurate account of the resistance movement in South Africa during the 1960s. "Paton attempts to imbue his characters with a humanity not expected of them. In this novel, for example, we meet the supposedly obdurate Afrikaner who contravenes the infamous Immorality Act. There are other Afrikaners, too, who are led by their consciences and not by rules, and regulations promulgated by a faceless, monolithic parliament." (from Post-Colonial African Writers, ed. by Pushipa Naidu Parekh and Siga Fatima Jagne, 1998)

Paton was a prolific essay writer, his theme once again being the race and politics of South Africa. In Save the Beloved Country Paton plays on the famous title of his first novel but keeps a serious tone throughout discussing many of the famous personalities and issues on various sides of the South Africa's apartheid struggle. His Anglican faith was another factor in his life and work, as may be gleaned from the title of Instrument of Thy Peace. Paton wrote two autobiographies: Towards the Mountain deals with Paton's life leading up to and including the publication of Cry, the Beloved Country (an event that changed the course of his life) while Journey Continued takes its departure from that time onwards. He wrote biographies of others as well. His friend Jan Hendrik Hofmeyr was honored thus in Hofmeyr as was another friend, Geoffrey Clayton, in Apartheid and the Archbishop. Another form that interested him throughout his life was poetry; the biographer Peter Alexander includes many of these poems in his biography of Alan Paton.^[3]

Two recent publications of Paton's work include travel writing -- The Lost City of the Kalahari (2006); and a new complete selection of his shorter writings -- The Hero of Currie Road.

Selected works[link]

• Cry, The Beloved Country, 1948 - film 1951, dir. by Zoltan Korda
• Lost in the Stars 1950 (with Maxwell Anderson - set to music by Kurt Weill)
• Too Late the Phalarope, 1953
• The Land and People of South Africa, 1955
• South Africa in Transition, 1956
• Debbie Go Home, 1960
• Tales from a Troubled Land, 1961
• Hofmeyr, 1964
• South African Tragedy, 1965
• Spono, 1965 (with Krishna Shah)
• The Long View, 1967
• Instrument of Thy Peace, 1968
• Kontakio For You Departed, 1969 (also: For You Departed)
• Case History of a Pinky, 1972
• Apartheid and the Archbishop: the Life and Times of Geoffrey Clayton, Archbishop of Cape Town, 1973
• Knocking on the Door, 1975
• Towards the Mountain, 1980
• Ah, but Your Land is Beautiful, 1981
• Journey Continued: An Autobiography, 1988
• Save the Beloved Country, 1989
• The Hero of Currie Road: the complete short pieces, 2008 ^[5]

Cry, The Beloved Country has been filmed twice (in 1951 and 1995) and was the basis for the Broadway musical Lost in the Stars (adaptation by Maxwell Anderson, music by Kurt Weill).

The Alan Paton Award for non-fiction is conferred annually in his honour.

Further reading[link]

• Holland, Roy (2008). Alan Paton Speaking. Clashnessie, Scotland, UK: Diadem Books. pp. 116. ISBN 978-0-9559741-4-4. http://books.google.ca/books?id=xiVjZ_7u6xAC. 

See also[link]

• Liberalism
• Contributions to liberal theory
• List of African writers
• List of South Africans — In 2004 Paton was voted 59th in the SABC3's Great South Africans

Notes[link]

1. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h} Alan (Stewart) Paton (1903-1988)
2. ^ "A mixture of ice and fulfilled desire - Mail & Guardian Online: The smart news source". Mg.co.za. 2005-11-14. http://www.mg.co.za/article/2005-11-14-a-mixture-of-ice-and-fulfilled-desire. Retrieved 2010-05-13. 
3. ^ ^{a b c} Herbert Mitgang (13 April 1988). "Alan Paton, Author Who Fought Against Apartheid, Is Dead at 85". http://www.nytimes.com/1988/04/13/obituaries/alan-paton-author-who-fought-against-apartheid-is-dead-at-85.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm. Retrieved 8 May 2012. 
4. ^ Alan Stewart Paton, South Africa (1903-1988), Liberal International website
5. ^ "Umuzi - The Hero of Currie Road - Detail Page". Umuzi-randomhouse.co.za. 2008-05-27. http://www.umuzi-randomhouse.co.za/hero.html. Retrieved 2010-05-13. 

External links[link]

• The Alan Paton Centre & Struggle Archives
• Alan Paton — A short biography and bibliography
• Cry the Beloved Country (1951) at the Internet Movie Database
• Cry the Beloved Country (1995) at the Internet Movie Database
• A mixture of ice and fulfilled desire, Mail & Guardian, Nov 14 2005

Ivan Vladislaviċ (born 1957, Pretoria) is a South African short story writer and novelist of Croatian origin.^[1] He lives in Johannesburg where he also works as an editor. In the eighties he worked as a fiction and social studies editor at Ravan Press. He was the assistant editor of Staffrider magazine for several years and compiled the commemorative anthology Ten years of Staffrider with Andries Oliphant.

List of works[link]

Vladislavic's style is postmodern, intermingling fantasy with references to historic events, enabling them to signify with symbolic meanings both within a South African context and beyond. His is a distinctively individual voice.

• Missing Persons [Collection of short stories, 1989]
• The Folly [Novel, 1993]

The Folly, situated in an apparently recognisable world, describes the building of a house from string, but the relevance extends to considerations of the imagination and to a satire of the political notion of constructing a new world. The novel received the CNA Literary Award.

• Propaganda by Monuments [Collection of short stories, 1996]
• The Restless Supermarket [Novel, 2001]

The Restless Supermarket is the etymologically dazzling story of Johannesburg suburb Hillbrow's makeover from frayed Euro-café society to shabby Afro-soul. Through the withering scorn of Aubrey Tearle, the novel's chief crank, we visit the dramatic moment - somewhere in the early 1990s - when these two worlds collide, often with hilarious results.

• The Exploded View [Sometimes referred to as a collection of short stories, Vladislavic himself considers this work to be a novel in four parts, set in and around Johannesburg, Random House, 2004]

The Exploded View is composed of four interlinked stories that focus on art and architecture: the places people choose to live and the things they seek to create, while his skill at handling subtle social commentary and political satire is evident throughout.

• Willem Boshoff [An extended essay on the work of this conceptual artist, David Krut Publishing, 2005]
• Portrait with Keys was published in June 2006, and is an archive of writings on a small segment of Johannesburg that has been walked, observed and reflected upon over the years by the author. Portrait with Keys consists of 138 numbered short texts, each addressing life in Johannesburg. The time frame stretches from recollections of the late 1970s to the immediate present. The protagonist is, in most instances, Ivan Vladislavić himself, although there are dozens of other characters with whom he shares encounters and interactions. In June 2007 Vladislavic won the Sunday Times Alan Paton Award for Nonfiction for Portrait with Keys. The judges called it a masterpiece and found it indicative of a trend among South African nonfiction to look "inwards in order to examine the outwards."
• Double Negative [Novel, 2011]
• Flashback Hotel: Early Stories [Collection of short stories, 2011]

Interviews[link]

• De Kok, Ingrid. Ivan Vladislavić: The Restless Supermarket. World Literature Today - January 1, 2002.
• De Vries, Fred. Joburg’s ambiguity mirrored in Portrait, The Weekender, 9 September 2006 [1]
• Jooste, Pamela. In Conversation with Ivan Vladislavić. LitNet, March 2005 [2]
• Warnes, Christopher. Interview with Ivan Vladislavić. Modern fiction studies, 46 (1) Spring, 2000: 280.
• Interview with Ivan Vladislavić on The Ledge, an independent platform for world literature. Includes excerpt and audio.

Awards[link]

• Olive Schreiner Prize (1991) for Missing Persons
• CNA Literary Award (1993) for The Folly
• Thomas Pringle Prize (1994) for two stories, Propaganda by Monuments and The WHITES ONLY Bench
• Noma Award for Publishing in Africa (1997): Honourable Mention for Propaganda by Monuments.
• Sunday Times Fiction Prize (2002) for The Restless Supermarket.
• Sunday Times Alan Paton Award for Nonfiction (2007) for Portrait with Keys: Joburg & What-What.
• Warwick Prize for Writing Portrait with Keys on the long list of that prize announced in November 2008.

University of Johannesburg Prize Double Negative, 2011

References[link]

Ronald Kasrils (commonly known as Ronnie Kasrils) (born November 15, 1938) is a South African politician. He was Minister for Intelligence Services from 27 April 2004 to 25 September 2008. He was a member of the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the African National Congress (ANC) from 1987 to 2007 as well as a member of the Central Committee of the South African Communist Party (SACP) from December 1986 to 2007.

His wife Eleanor Kasrils was also a prominent anti-apartheid activist.

Early life[link]

Kasrils' grandparents were Jewish immigrants from Latvia and Lithuania who fled from Czarist pogroms at the end of the 19th century.^[1] He is the son of Rene (born Cohen) and Isidore Kasrils. His father was a factory salesman. His mother worked as a shop assistant prior to her marriage. Kasrils matriculated at King Edward VII School in Johannesburg. He subsequently became a script writer for films in Johannesburg from 1958 to 1960 before accepting a position as a television and film director for Lever Brothers' advertising division in Durban from 1960 to 1962.

Role in the ANC and Anti-Apartheid Activism[link]

The Sharpeville massacre radicalised Kasrils against the Apartheid system and he joined the African National Congress (ANC) in 1960, becoming secretary of the Congress of Democrats in Natal in 1961, the same year he joined the South African Communist Party. In 1962, he received a five-year banning order prohibiting him from public speaking. He was a founding member of Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK) as member of Natal Regional Command during the same year. He became the commander of Natal Regional Command in 1963. He underwent military training in 1964 in Odessa, USSR and at the end of 1965 was sent to London to work for the movement there. During this time Kasrils worked with Yusuf Dadoo, Joe Slovo and Jack Hodgson and they formed a special committee (1966-76) to develop underground activities in South Africa from the United Kingdom. During this time he trained various people including Raymond Suttner, Jeremy Cronin, Ahmed Timol, Alex Moumbaris, Tim Jenkins and Dave and Sue Rabkin, with the aim of establishing underground propaganda units in South Africa. He served the ANC and was based in London, Luanda, Maputo, Swaziland, Botswana and Lusaka. Kasrils eventually became a member of MK's High Command and was appointed as Chief of MK Intelligence in 1983.

Kasrils also served on the ANC's Politico-Military Council from 1985 to 1989 and worked underground for the ANC in South Africa during Operation Vula from 1990 to 1991. He went on to head the ANC's campaign section from 1991 to 1994.

The Bisho Massacre[link]

On 7 September 1992, about 80,000 protesters from the ANC gathered outside Bisho in the Bantustan of Ciskei in South Africa to demand the resignation of Ciskei leader Oupa Gqozo and the reincorporation of Ciskei into South Africa. The protest was led by senior ANC leaders including South African Communist Party Secretary General Chris Hani, Cyril Ramaphosa, Steve Tshwete and Ronnie Kasrils.

The Ciskei government banned the marchers from entering Bisho. Kasrils led an unarmed group in an attempt to break through the Ciskei Defence Force lines to enter Bisho. Ciskei Defence Force soldiers opened fire on the marchers with automatic weapons, killing 28 marchers and injuring over 200. A member of the Ciskei Defence Force was also killed, although this was the result of being shot by another member of the Force. More than 425 rounds were fired, the first fusillade lasting one-and-a-half minutes, and the second lasting a minute.^[2]

The Goldstone Commission was tasked with investigating the massacre. The Commission noted there was no evidence to suggest the demonstrators had fired shots, as suggested by Gqozo and condemned the Ciskei leader for banning the protest. The Commission criticised Kasrils for leading marchers to try to enter Bisho.^[3]

Democratic South Africa: Ministerial posts[link]

After the first fully democratic elections in South Africa in 1994, Kasrils became a member of the Transitional Executive Council's (TEC) Sub-Council on Defence. He was appointed as Deputy Minister of Defence on 24 June 1994, a post which he held until 16 June 1999. He was also the Minister of Water Affairs and Forestry from 1999 to 2004 and was appointed as Minister of Intelligence Services in 2004.

Following the resignation of President Thabo Mbeki in September 2008, Kasrils was among those members of the Cabinet who submitted their resignations on September 23.^[4]

Positions on Israel/Palestine conflict[link]

Kasrils is known for his strong criticisms of the government of Israel and for his sympathies towards Palestinian political struggles.^[5] He rose to international prominence after penning a "Declaration of Conscience by South Africans of Jewish Descent" in 2001 against Israeli policies in the occupied territories.^[6] He has participated in events in the Palestinian Territories with all elected Palestinian parties and endorses a two-state solution premised on the 1967 borders.^[7]

In a two part essay "David and Goliath: Who is Who in the Middle East"^[8][9] published in the ANC's theoretical journal Umrabulo in late 2006 and early 2007, Kasrils outlined a history of Israel-Palestine since 1948 very critical of Israeli governments and military actions. Parts of the essay were published in the Mail&Guardian in a summarised form under the title "Rage of the Elephant: Israel in Lebanon."^[10] The article caused considerable controversy,^[11] when Kasrils, commenting on the results of civilian deaths following the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in July 2006, and referring to the Israeli leadership, noted: "...we must call baby killers 'baby killers' and declare that those using methods reminiscent of the Nazis be told that they are behaving like Nazis."^[12]

In November 2006, the South African Jewish Report lodged a complaint of hate speech against Kasrils with the South African Human Rights Commission on the basis that the articles in Umrabulo and the Mail&Guardian violated Constitional protections (viz. Section 16(2)(c) of the Bill of Rights).^[13] On 29 March 2007, the Commission ruled that Kasrils had not engaged in hate speech,^[14] and noted: "Mr Kasrils’ call for peaceful negotiations is not compatible with the interpretation that he is calling for the destruction of the state of Israel. Neither can his comments reasonably be associated with Holocaust denials."^[15]

In May 2007, during a visit to the Palestinian Territories, Kasrils met with Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh and invited him to make his first visit outside the Muslim world to South Africa. South Africa's Jewish Board of Deputies criticised the invitation, saying the "racist ideology" of Haniyeh's Hamas organisation, which led the Palestinian unity government at that time, stood in contrast to South Africa's own post-apartheid ideals. In response to criticism of the invitation Kasrils was quoted (Haaretz, 7 May 2007) as stating: "Those who myopically object to such invitations merely show that they have learnt nothing from South Africa's transition".^[16]

Publications[link]

Kasrils has written several early books on Bertrand Russell and poetry many articles on politics, defence and water & forestry issues. His autobiography, Armed and Dangerous, was first published in 1993 and updated and re-published in 1998 and 2004. First published in 2010, The Unlikely Secret Agent gives a charged personal account of Ronnie's wife Eleanor's courage and daring against the apartheid powers that once held an iron grip over the country on every level. It is described as a wonderful book by John Le Carre.

Quotes by and about Kasrils[link]

• "Whatever the drawbacks and failures I am convinced that in years to come humanity will look back to Soviet achievements as a source of profound inspiration"
  • R. Kasrils, Armed and Dangerous.

External links[link]

• Biography at Ministry of Intelligence Services, Government of the Republic of South Africa

Notes[link]

Justice Albie Sachs in South Africa's Constitutional Court

Albert "Albie" Louis Sachs (1935-) was a judge on the Constitutional Court of South Africa. He was appointed to the court by Nelson Mandela in 1994 and retired in October 2009. Justice Sachs gained international attention in 2005 as the author of the Court's holding in the case of Minister of Home Affairs v Fourie, in which the Court overthrew South Africa's statute defining marriage to be between one man and one woman as a violation of the Constitution's general mandate for equal protection for all and its specific mandate against discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.

Early life[link]

Sachs was born into a South African Jewish family of Lithuanian background. His career in human rights activism started at the age of seventeen, when as a second year law student at the University of Cape Town, he took part in the Defiance of Unjust Laws Campaign.^[1] Three years later, in 1955, he attended the Congress of the People at Kliptown where the Freedom Charter was adopted.

He started practice as an advocate at the Cape Town Bar aged twenty one, where he defended people charged under racial statutes and security laws under South African Apartheid. Sachs has a law degree from the University of Cape Town and a PhD from Sussex University.

Imprisonment and exile[link]

After being arrested and placed in solitary confinement for his work in the freedom movement, Albie Sachs went into exile in England and then Mozambique. In 1988, in Maputo, Mozambique, he lost an arm and his sight in one eye when a bomb was placed in his car by South African security agents. After the bombing, he devoted himself to the preparations for a new democratic constitution for South Africa. He returned to South Africa and served as a member of the Constitutional Committee and the National Executive of the African National Congress.

Awards and writings[link]

In 1991 he won the Alan Paton Award for his book Soft Vengeance of a Freedom Fighter. The book chronicles his response to the 1988 car bombing. A revised, updated and expanded edition was released in October 2011.^[2] He is also the author of Justice in South Africa (1974), The Jail Diary of Albie Sachs (1966), Sexism and the Law (1979), and The Free Diary of Albie Sachs (2004). His most recent book, The Strange Alchemy of Life and Law (2009), also won the Alan Paton Award, making him the second person to have won it twice.^[3] The Jail Diary of Albie Sachs was dramatized for television and broadcast by the BBC in the late 1970s.^[4]

He helped select the art collection at Constitution Hill, the seat of the Constitutional Court.

In 2006 his alma mater the University of Cape Town awarded him an honorary Doctorate in Law.^[5][6] On 8 July 2008 Sachs was awarded an honorary Doctor of Laws (LLD) degree by the University of Ulster in recognition of his contribution to human rights and justice globally.^[7]

In 2009 Sachs received the Academy of Achievement Golden Plate Award.

On 16 July 2010 Sachs was further awarded an honorary degree of Doctor of the University of York for his contribution to the construction of post-apartheid South Africa, in particular for his involvement in the creation of the South African constitution.^[8] This constitution is widely regarded as being the most progressive in the world.^[9]

In all, Sachs has 14 honorary degrees across four continents.^[10]

Radio[link]

• On idealism, passion and reason in South Africa Albie Sachs Speaks on BBC The Forum

References[link]

External links[link]

• Biography at the Constitutional Court of South Africa website - broken link Sept 2011
• An interview with Albie Sachs by the Conversations with History program of the Institute of International Studies, UC Berkeley
• Voices on Antisemitism Interview with Albie Sachs from the US Holocaust Memorial Museum
• Interview with Justice Sachs on Chicago Public Radio's Worldview program
• Hear his talk "The South African Court Looks At Same-Sex Marriages: The Fourie Case" at the University of Chicago
• Interview with Albie Sachs on The Strange Alchemy of Life and Law, "The Law Report" (Australian Broadcasting Corporation), 14 September 2010

v t e Constitutional Court of South Africa Constitution Hill, Johannesburg Current Justices Mogoeng Mogoeng (Chief Justice) Dikgang Moseneke (Deputy Chief Justice) Edwin Cameron Johan Froneman Chris Jafta Sisi Khampepe Bess Nkabinde Thembile Skweyiya Johann van der Westhuizen Zak Yacoob (Acting Deputy Chief Justice) Former Justices Lourens Ackermann Arthur Chaskalson John Didcott Richard Goldstone Johann Kriegler Pius Langa Tholie Madala Ismail Mahomed Yvonne Mokgoro Sandile Ngcobo Kate O'Regan Albie Sachs Lists of judgments 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 Law of South Africa Constitution of South Africa Courts of South Africa Judiciary of South Africa

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (June 2010)

Alan Parsons
Alan Parsons in 2006
Background information
Born	(1948-12-20) 20 December 1948 (age 63) London, England
Genres	Rock, progressive rock
Occupations	Audio engineer, composer, musician, record producer, director
Years active	1967–present
Labels	Legacy, Arista, Fox, Mercury, Frontiers[citation needed]
Associated acts	The Alan Parsons Project
Website	Alan Parsons Music

Alan Parsons (born 20 December 1948^[1]) is a British audio engineer, musician, and record producer. He was involved with the production of several significant albums, including The Beatles' Abbey Road and Let It Be, as well as Pink Floyd's The Dark Side of the Moon for which Pink Floyd credit him as an important contributor. Parsons' own group, The Alan Parsons Project, as well as his subsequent solo recordings, have also been successful commercially.

Career[link]

In October 1967, at age 18, Parsons went to work as an assistant engineer at Abbey Road Studios, where he earned his first credit on the LP Abbey Road. He became a regular there, engineering such projects as Paul McCartney's Wild Life and Red Rose Speedway, five albums by The Hollies, and Pink Floyd’s The Dark Side of the Moon, for which he received his first Grammy Award nomination. He was known for doing more than what would normally be considered the scope of a recording engineer’s duties.^{[citation needed]}He considered himself to be a recording director, likening his contribution to recordings to what Stanley Kubrick contributed to film.^{[citation needed]} This is apparent in his work with Al Stewart's "Year of the Cat", where Parsons added the saxophone part and transformed the original folk concept into the jazz-influenced ballad that put Al Stewart onto the charts.^{[citation needed]} It is also heard in Parsons' influence on the Hollies' "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother" and "The Air That I Breathe", sharp departures from their popular 1960s hits "Stay", "Just One Look", "Stop! Stop! Stop!" or "Bus Stop".^{[citation needed]} Parsons was also known to have swapped shifts during the engineering of The Dark Side of the Moon so he could work entirely on the project.^{[citation needed]}

Parsons also produced three albums by Pilot, a Scottish pop rock band consisting of Ian Bairnson on guitar, Stuart Tosh on drums, and David Paton on lead vocals, guitars,bass and William (Billy) Lyall, on piano and keys. Their hits included "January" and "Magic".

He also mixed the debut album by the American band Ambrosia and produced their second album Somewhere I've Never Travelled. Alan was nominated for grammys for both of these albums. ^[2]

In 1975, he declined Pink Floyd's invitation to come back and work on the follow-up for "Dark Side," Wish You Were Here, and instead initiated The Alan Parsons Project with producer and songwriter (and occasional singer) Eric Woolfson, whom he had met at Abbey Road. The Project consisted of a revolving group of studio musicians and vocalists, most notably the members of Pilot and (on the first album) the members of Ambrosia. Unlike most rock groups, The Alan Parsons Project never performed live during its heyday, although it did release several music videos. Its only live performance during its original incarnation was in 1990, with Woolfson present but behind the scenes. After releasing ten albums, the last in 1987, the Project terminated in 1990 after Parsons and Woolfson split, with the Project's intended 11th album released that year as a Woolfson solo album. Parsons continued to release work in his own name and in collaboration with other musicians. Parsons and his band now regularly tour many parts of the world.

Although an accomplished vocalist, keyboardist, bassist, guitarist and flautist, Parsons only sang infrequent and incidental parts on his albums. While his keyboard playing was very audible on the Alan Parsons Project albums, very few recordings feature his flute. During the late 1990s, Parsons' career travelled an interesting full circle. Having started out in the music industry at the Abbey Road Studios in London as an assistant engineer in the late 1960s, he briefly returned to run the studio in its entirety. He reportedly managed to combine this role with the demands of a hectic performing and recording schedule. Parsons also continued with his selective production work for other bands.

Of all his collaborations, guitarist Ian Bairnson worked with Parsons the longest, including Parsons' post-Woolfson albums, Try Anything Once, On Air, and The Time Machine.

As well as receiving gold and platinum awards from many nations, Parsons has received ten Grammy Award nominations for engineering and production. In 2007 he received a nomination for Best Surround Sound Album for A Valid Path.

In May 2005, Parsons appeared at the Canyon Club in Agoura Hills, California, to mix front-of-house sound for Southern California-based Pink Floyd tribute band Which One’s Pink? and their performance of The Dark Side of the Moon in its entirety.^[3]

Since 2003 he has toured under a revised name, The Alan Parsons Live Project (with Woolfson’s permission). The globe-trotting band features guitarist Godfrey Townsend, drummer Steve Murphy, keyboardist Manny Focarazzo, and bass guitarist John Montagna. The 2004–2005 shows offered vocalist P. J. Olsson's track "More Lost Without You", while the later 2006 shows presented The Crystal Method-featured "We Play the Game" and opened with "Return to Tunguska" along with successes spanning the Project years.

Beginning in 2001 and extending for four years, Parsons conceived and led a Beatles tribute show called A Walk Down Abbey Road featuring a group of headlining performers such as Todd Rundgren, Ann Wilson of Heart, John Entwistle of The Who, and Jack Bruce of Cream. The show structure included a first set where all musicians assembled to perform each others' hits, and a second set featuring all Beatles songs.

In 2010, Alan Parsons released his single "All Our Yesterdays" through Authentik Artists.^[4] Parsons also launched a DVD educational series in 2010 titled The Art and Science of Sound Recording ("ASSR") on music production and the complete audio recording process. The single "All Our Yesterdays" was written and recorded during the making of ASSR. The series, narrated by Billy Bob Thornton,^[5] gives detailed tutorials on virtually every aspect of the sound recording process. Individual sections of the series are also being released in batches and are available to stream or download at www.artandscienceofsound.com.^[5]

During 2010, several media reports,^[6][7] one of which included a quote from a representative of Parsons,^[8] alleged that the song "Need You Now" by country music group Lady Antebellum possessed the melody and arrangement of "Eye in the Sky."

In 2011 it was announced that Parsons was creating and producing a new group called the Subclones. Parsons said: "I feel that the public deserves some genuinely innovative music and It's been a long time since I've heard some that truly excites me – it made me want to get back into the studio and do another 'Dark Side'." Parsons jokingly refers to one of the biggest-selling and most popular albums in history.^{[citation needed]}

Personal life[link]

Parsons was born in London. He resides in Santa Barbara, California with his wife and her two daughters, as well as numerous pets.^[1]

Discography[link]

Studio albums[link]

• with The Alan Parsons Project:
  • Tales of Mystery and Imagination (1976)
  • I Robot (1977)
  • Pyramid (1978)
  • Eve (1979)
  • The Turn of a Friendly Card (1980)
  • Eye in the Sky (1982)
  • Ammonia Avenue (1984)
  • Vulture Culture (1985)
  • Stereotomy (1985)
  • Gaudi (1987)
• as a solo artist:
  • Try Anything Once (1993)
  • On Air (1996)
  • The Time Machine (1999)
  • A Valid Path (2004)

Full discography[link]

[edit] Billboard Top 40 hit singles (U.S.)

No. 37 – "(The System Of) Doctor Tarr And Professor Fether" (1976)

No. 36 – "I Wouldn't Want to Be Like You" (1977)

No. 27 – "Damned if I Do" (1979)

No. 16 – "Games People Play" (1980)

No. 15 – "Time" (1981)

No. 3 – "Eye in the Sky" (1982)

No. 15 – "Don't Answer Me" (1984)

Canadian singles[link]

No. 62 – "(The System Of) Doctor Tarr And Professor Fether" (1976)

No. 22 – "I Wouldn't Want to Be Like You" (1977)

No. 16 – "Damned if I Do" (1980)

No. 9 – "Games People Play" (1981)

No. 30 – "Time" (1981)

No. 1 – "Eye in the Sky" (1982)

No. 43 – "You Don't Believe" (1983)

No. 20 – "Don't Answer Me" (1984)

No. 89 – "Let's Talk About Me" (1985)

Awards and nominations[link]

Nominations[link]

• 1973 – Pink Floyd – The Dark Side of the Moon – Grammy Award for Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical
• 1976 – Ambrosia – Somewhere I've Never Travelled – Grammy Award for Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical
• 1976 – The Alan Parsons Project – Tales of Mystery and Imagination – Grammy Award for Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical
• 1978 – The Alan Parsons Project – Pyramid – Grammy Award for Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical
• 1979 – Ice Castles – Original Motion Picture Soundtrack – Grammy Award for Best Score Soundtrack Album for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media
• 1979 – The Alan Parsons Project – Eve – Grammy Award for Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical
• 1981 – The Alan Parsons Project – The Turn of a Friendly Card – Grammy Award for Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical
• 1982 – The Alan Parsons Project – Eye in the Sky – Grammy Award for Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical
• 1986 – The Alan Parsons Project – "Where's The Walrus?" – Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance
• 2007 – Alan Parsons – A Valid Path – Grammy Award for Best Surround Sound Album

References[link]

• Official website of the Alan Parsons Project
• The Avenue, The Official Alan Parsons Fan Club

External links[link]

• Alan Parsons at Allmusic
• Alan Parsons Music Official Site
• Alan Parsons Project Official Site
• Alan Parsons in the Internet Movie Data Base
• Crawdaddy! "Parsons Knows: The Tale of Alan Parsons and Edgar Allan Poe"
• The Subclones, Parsons new group