Like a Guardian
By Leo Cappel
()
About this ebook
Like a Guardian
Leo Cappel is a Holocaust survivor, writer, sculptor and musician. Born in Holland, he survived the war by going into hiding. Leo studied art at the Rietveld Academy, Amsterdam. He worked as an art teacher, as jeweller and as a scuba diving instructor before emigrating to New Zealand. 'Like a Guardian' is his autobiography and bibliography.
In his own words:
My earliest memory is of my grandmother teaching me how to say cigar in Dutch ('sigaar', I was born in Amsterdam). My grandmother also spoke Yiddish, but she thought Dutch was enough to start with. Words intrigued me then, and have done so ever since. Words, sounds and patterns - read: writing, music and sculpting.
During the war I had to hide with a family in Friesland. The adults spoke Dutch as well, but the few kids I met spoke Friesian. After the war the Red Cross sent me to Switzerland, to live with an elderly couple who spoke only Swiss-German. The Dutch word Papa became Tatte in Yiddish, Heit in Friesian, Vater in Switzerland. Later still, when I was an art student in Paris for one semester, it was Père and now it's Dad. How could I not be fascinated?
I studied art at the Rietveld Academy, Amsterdam. I worked as an art teacher, as jeweller and as a scuba diving instructor before emigrating to New Zealand.
One of my first jobs in New Zealand was with the railways, as 'relay mechanic'. My English was still rather shaky and my off-sider came from the top of Scotland! At that time I still wrote in Dutch and had stories accepted in Holland and Belgium.
Soon I was offered a position at the Canterbury Museum, making small diorama displays, mainly for country schools, and some years later I found myself creating the very large dioramas in the Auckland Museum.
My wife Karen and I got restless, and decided to build a 54 foot yacht, so we could go to sea. It took 7 years of weekends and holidays, and was financed by writing, performing on stage, playing music and building unusual musical instruments in what little spare time we could find.
We lived on board, getting ready to travel overseas. Then a bombshell: the asbestos in my lungs - legacy of my Auckland Museum job! - started to play up, no more ocean sailing after all. My response: to write a cheerful novel, "SAIL THEATRE, SAIL", to be followed by several stage plays; musicals; the novels CLONE, VIP, The Bloody Rosie and more.
After 16 years aboard we lived for another 10 years on top of a hill on tiny Kawau Island, where there are no shops, no roads, no rubbish removal or any other services apart from electricity - most of the time - and telephone, and where we got our mail delivered by the Royal Mail Run ferry twice a week.
Read more from Leo Cappel
Papagenina's Flute Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLanguageland Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Bloody Rosie Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDine and Die Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsClone Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Related to Like a Guardian
Related ebooks
War Time, Peace Time, My Time Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPeter's Sisters Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Fragment of Life: An Autobiography Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsProcession: Stories from a Polish Past Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAccidental Artist: Memoirs of a Flawed & Ignorant Traveller Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLost in the Fog: Memoir of a Bastard: A Belgian Recalls the War, the Nazis, Her Fractured Life Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Queen's Pawns Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRoxanne: My Extraordinary Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Violin Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPowerlessness Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Psychic Spy Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsGrace Notes: My Recollections Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Perfect Lie Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Margaret Ogilvy: "Life is a long lesson in humility" Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTennessee Rain Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsReminiscences of Tolstoy Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLudo’s Wilderness Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMy Story: The Inevitable Way of Life Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Red Lollipop Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDance Till the Music Stops Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Strength Within Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThey Called Me Mr. Scales Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Psychotic Fireman "Well, I Never Expected That!" Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHidden Girl: The True Story of a Modern-Day Child Slave Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dancing With Dementia: Recognizing and Coping With the Early Stages of Dementia Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBecoming Madeleine: A Biography of the Author of A Wrinkle in Time by Her Granddaughters Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Lotus and the Tiger Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMy Brother and his Brother: A gay story about a brotherly love Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Stranger in the Third Reich Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Piece of Lint in Outer Space Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Biography & Memoir For You
The Good Neighbor: The Life and Work of Fred Rogers Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Just Mercy: a story of justice and redemption Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I'll Be Gone in the Dark: One Woman's Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Mommie Dearest Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Maybe You Should Talk to Someone: the heartfelt, funny memoir by a New York Times bestselling therapist Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Maybe You Should Talk to Someone: A Therapist, HER Therapist, and Our Lives Revealed Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Becoming Bulletproof: Protect Yourself, Read People, Influence Situations, and Live Fearlessly Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Stolen Life: A Memoir Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Diary of a Young Girl Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Indifferent Stars Above: The Harrowing Saga of the Donner Party Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Meditations: Complete and Unabridged Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Seven Pillars of Wisdom: A Triumph Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Taste: My Life Through Food Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Billion Years: My Escape From a Life in the Highest Ranks of Scientology Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Why Fish Don't Exist: A Story of Loss, Love, and the Hidden Order of Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5South to America: A Journey Below the Mason-Dixon to Understand the Soul of a Nation Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Working Stiff: Two Years, 262 Bodies, and the Making of a Medical Examiner Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Ivy League Counterfeiter Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Disorganized Mind: Coaching Your ADHD Brain to Take Control of Your Time, Tasks, and Talents Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5People, Places, Things: My Human Landmarks Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Alive: The Story of the Andes Survivors Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Jack Reacher Reading Order: The Complete Lee Child’s Reading List Of Jack Reacher Series Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Disloyal: A Memoir: The True Story of the Former Personal Attorney to President Donald J. Trump Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5All That Remains: A Renowned Forensic Scientist on Death, Mortality, and Solving Crimes Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Finding Freedom: Harry and Meghan and the Making of a Modern Royal Family Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Simple Faith of Mister Rogers: Spiritual Insights from the World's Most Beloved Neighbor Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Wright Brothers Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
Reviews for Like a Guardian
0 ratings0 reviews