Elaine Durbach: The New South Africa

Alice Robinson-Gilman will interview fellow ECS member and journalist Elaine Durbach about her home country, South Africa. Durbach, who still has family living there, has visited the country periodically since moving to the United States in 1981, and has witnessed — as she puts it — a “stop-action” version of its progress from apartheid rogue state to a shaky but evolving democracy, dogged by ills like frequent power outages, and blessed with extraordinary cultural vitality. Durbach was born in Zimbabwe, grew up in Zambia and Lesotho, and was educated in South Africa. She immigrated to the USA in 1981. Currently, she is working on a novel about life in both countries, and is developing a new communications service, based on her 40 years of interviewing people from all walks of life. She lives in Maplewood with her husband Marshall Norstein, the building manager of ECS, and their son Gabriel. Robinson-Gilman is a longtime member of ECS. She was instrumental in starting a series of interactive membership programs on issues of concern to families as their children grew. She has also co-presented programs with Sue Willis on books concerning the environment and worldwide issues.