• Photo by MJ S on Unsplash - unsplash.com/@mjseka

Portfolio: personal biographer

A portfolio of case studies, biographies, and histories I've researched and written for businesspeople and companies wanting to record the stories of their successes (and - for the brave! - their failures).

  • Want your story told?
  • Want to present your retiring CEO with a great parting gift?
  • Want your business's history recorded for posterity? 

... Then it's time to....

 Contact me

...and let's talk!

Crashed and burned?

Have you failed magnificently, spectacularly, gloriously? Has one of your projects hit the deck so hard there's only one way to redeem it - and that's by telling everyone about it so that someone else can learn from your mistakes? Yes? Then give us a call, and let me write your story.

Contact me

Featherbed Nature Reserve, Knysna: the origins story

Opened to guests in 1984, Knysna’s Featherbed Nature Reserve quickly grew into one of the Garden Route’s biggest tourism attractions. Martin Hatchuel takes a look at its origins and early history under its founder, William Smith.

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Biography: William Smith

In the article... researcher and writer Martin Hatchuel delves into the life of William Smith, one of South Africa's most recognisable teachers. Hatchuel charts Smith's entrepreneurial flair in education and tourism and digs into the archive to reveal some fantastic photographs of Smith growing up” - The Heritage Portal

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William Smith: Evolution of an educator

On the 25th of April, 2019, South Africa’s president Cyril Ramaphosa invested the country’s (and Knysna’s!) best-known teacher - William Smith - with the nation’s Order of the Baobab class 2: Grand Counsellor of the Order of the Baobab (Silver). 

This order is given to South African citizens who’ve gone “well above and beyond the ordinary call of duty” in business, the economy, science, medicine, technological innovation, or community service.

So how did Smith’s now famous teaching career evolve?

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Lara Mostert: Square Metre Woman

Total commitment and a love for animals drives this Plettenberg Bay woman to try and change the law about whether animals can own the land on which they live, and so protect their habitat forever.

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Case study: Knysna Museums - the digital-to-history interface

Cost-effective use of a new website and posters marked with QR codes: an inexpensive method of upgrading displays and extending the reach of a small community-owned museum.

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Case study: New interpretive sign for the wreck of the Paquita

QR code links history in the field (well - in the sea!) to the Knysna Museum

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