About Father's Day's, and Plantain's most colourful book so far!
Father’s day is with us, and it got us wondering about those anecdotes…
You know, the stories you forever identify with your parent. We’ve recorded so many family stories that it was close to impossible for us to select only one to share with you. But here's an anecdote that keeps coming up, and it is from the most colourful book we’ve crafted so far:
One day I came home at around five o’clock in the morning and found my father awake. He was a Freemason so it was not unusual to find him getting ready to step out at that time. I called out,
“Morning Dad!”
“Ah… Franklyn…” he answered.
Franklyn? I am thinking, ‘Oh God!’
[Something's wrong - his father usually calls him Frankie, and only ever calls him Franklyn when he is angry with him... Frankie's been staying out too late recently.]
He says, “Come a minute, please... Can you go inside and bring a candle for me?”
Asking me for a candle? This must be a Masonic lodge thing.
I go inside, bring out a candle, and he says,
“Oh, I forgot, bring me a knife and matches, please.”
Knife and matches? I KNOW this must be a lodge thing.
I come back out and he says,
“Can you just shave off the other end for me?”
By now I am convinced this is a lodge thing to invoke the spirits or whatever it is that they did.
I do it, and he says,
“Light both ends…”
I lit both sides but each end kept burning me.
As I was rotating it and figuring it out he said,
“You see that? That’s what you’re doing with your life. You can out it and go inside now…”
I cannot forget lying in bed after that, contemplating his words.
The extract is from Catch Me If You Can! a book on Franklyn Dolly’s life.
As you might have guessed, Franklyn’s memoir captures outrageous accounts, but it also details the journey he shares with his wife, Jenny, building a remarkably successful social work home.
Take a closer look at the project by clicking here.
Forbes made special mention of Plantain!
Click here to read about family businesses and how we believe that storytelling and family history books can be used to transfer knowledge between generations and navigate changes without compromising on core values.
Rawlston Charles - Charlie’s Records
We made Tribeca! Well, kind of...
We provided content for a documentary that premiered at Tribeca and that was directed by Tina Charles. The film is about Tina’s father’s iconic New York record store and music label, Charlie’s Records.
We thank Lorraine O’Connor for putting us in contact. In fact, most of our work comes from referrals, which we love, because it means building an extended family of like-minded persons. Don’t hesitate to connect us to stories you feel should be captured before they disappear…
Otherwise, here’s what we’ve found interesting these past few weeks:
The children's picture book artists that tell migrants' stories through astonishing postcards.
On why it’s time to let go of the colonial fairytale that is Robinson Crusoe - ‘Before the island, he was a slave trader… and sells a Moorish boy to a ship’s captain.’
Netflix’s first children’s animation from Africa is an all-girl spy team written by women.
Finally, did you know that wet plate photography cannot pick up certain -tattoos? This ended up erasing a large part of Māori culture from history. Also, notice how much older the subjects are made to look...
The first Bespoke Book ever commissioned from Plantain by a woman, for herself. More on this soon…
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