John McIntosh Papers (Mss Acc 73)

Abstract

John Daniel Kerr McIntosh (1930-1970) was born in Zimbabwe. He was educated at St Aiden’s College (Grahamstown), Stutterheim High School, and at the Universities of Cape Town and the Witwatersrand where he studied science and the arts. In 1950, he worked as a journalist for SAPA and later joined the Star. He left journalism in 1961 in order to spend more time on his own creative writing. In 1962 he was appointed to the staff of Boys’ Town, Magaliesburg, where he taught until his untimely death from cancer in 1970.

During John McIntosh’s years as an English teacher, he published short stories in collections such as Winter’s Tales and New South African Writing. His first novel, Blood Brothers, which deals with the theme of racial conflict, was published in 1965 by Anthony Blond. Panther re-issued the publication as a paperback in 1969. McIntosh’s second novel, The Thorn Trees, which is set on a remote farm at the edge of the Kalahari, was published by MacMillan in London in 1967. Two years later, McMillan published McIntosh’s third novel, Come to My House, which describes the pains of adolescence. His fourth and final book, The Stonefish, tells the story of a young man’s journey from Johannesburg to Mozambique in search of reconciliation with loss. McIntosh was awarded the CNA literary prize posthumously for this publication.

At the time of his death, John McIntosh was busy writing a novel set in South West Africa (Namibia). His unpublished manuscripts include 17 short stories, two plays and several novels.

The Unisa Library bought the John McIntosh Papers in 1991 from Mrs Gladys Hirst, a close friend of the author. The Papers include the manuscript of McIntosh’s book The Thorn Trees. The manuscripts of his other novels, plays, poems and short stories are held by Boston University in the United States.