Robert Leslie

Robert was born in Johannesburg in October 1941.

As a young man, he became interested in long-distance running and, over three decades, competed in half-marathons, full marathons, and several ultra-marathons, the most notable being Comrades, a ninety-kilometer run between Pietermaritzburg and Durban. He finished in 8.5 hours.

Upon completing his education, he set his sights north. Over the next decade or so, he lived and worked in Northern and Southern Rhodesia. While in Northern Rhodesia, he worked for RESCO, a construction company with contracts to build new copper-refining plants on the Copper Belt. His role was as a steel erector and rigger.

He left them and did a six-month stint with Scaw Tow foundries, working on the blast furnaces.

Leaving them, he joined AMCO, a South African shaft-sinking company contracted to develop new mines on the Copper Belt. His duties were as a rigger.

When Northern Rhodesia gained independence in October 1964 and became Zambia, he, like many South Africans, returned to the Republic. A year or so later, he traveled north to Southern Rhodesia, where he met and married Prudence, his wife of nearly fifty years. It was an incident while on a construction site in the bush that inspired him to write "Song of the Butterflies' this novel is the first of the Sion Michael Series, a trilogy; he has now completed the sequel, 'Devil's Throat.' Both of these novels are available through Amazon. Robert is currently working on the last of the three-book series, 'Reflection in a Tear'.

Returning to South Africa, his employment history was varied: He worked for Evelyn and Haddon, a printing trade supplier, and then for L’Oréal as a representative. He then joined Merck Sharp and Dohme as a pharmaceutical representative.

He and his wife, together with her family, migrated to Sydney, Australia, in the late ‘70s. He joined Boots Health Care as a representative and remained with them until he retired. They moved to Bowral, a quiet, country town nestled between verdant hills in the Southern Highlands of New South Wales.

'Song of the Butterflies' is a must-read for anyone interested in the # 2nd Chimurenga--- Zimbabwean War of Liberation. # Rhodesian Bush Warfare. # Selous Scouts.