Footprints Along the Way: Lifetime Memories of a Journalist, Author and Publisher

David Hilton-Barber is passionate about history.

With a great-grandfather who founded the Cape Times in 1876, journalism was always his life choice. Born in Grahamstown and with 1820 Settler blood in his veins, he was infused with history. A degree at Rhodes under the tutelage of Professors Guy Butler (English) and Winnie Maxwell (History), mapped the future.                                                                          More as a bystander than a participant, he has witnessed 80 years of history unfolding, from the bucolic Eastern Cape to the colonial world in Northern Rhodesia, from the politically doomed Central African Federation to the bustle of Johannesburg, from the steamy Lowveld to the serene seaside of the Western Cape.                                                Throughout his life, the written word has been his motif. In his retirement he has turned to researching, writing and publishing non-fiction historical books. He has launched books at bookshops, given presentations at book fairs, addressed meetings of historical societies, participated in Zoom events and, gratefully, begun receiving author’s submissions from far and wide. These include family memoirs whose authors were initially reluctant to go into print but who were persuaded that their stories could also reach a wider audience of like-minded people.

This memoir, Footprints Along the Way, is his latest modest contribution to his family, friends and readers.