''Face Value'' is a 1983 anthology of collected journalism by South African journalist

Jani Allan Jani Allan (born 11 September 1952) is a South African journalist, columnist, writer and broadcaster. She became one of the country's first media celebrities in the 1980s and 1990s. In 1980, Allan became a columnist for the centrist newspaper, ...

. The book is compiled from selections of Allan's successful gossip and popular culture column ''Just Jani'' that appeared in the ''

Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, whi ...

''. She was voted ''"the most admired person in South Africa."'' in a

Gallup poll Gallup, Inc. is an American analytics and advisory company based in Washington, D.C. Founded by George Gallup in 1935, the company became known for its public opinion polls conducted worldwide. Starting in the 1980s, Gallup transitioned its bu ...

commissioned by the newspaper. The book was published by Longstreet publishers in

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

and released in South Africa in 1983.

Synopsis

The book is a selection of interviews and photographs of public figures from various fields such as entertainment, sport, business, art and politics. Allan also contributed a column-style introduction to each chapter.

Andrzej Sawa Andrzej Sawa (born 1941) is a Polish- South African photographer. Early life Sawa was born in Poland and was taken to a German labour camp in 1943 and lived there with his mother and grandmother until the end of the Second World War in 1945. Bo ...

provided the photographs of the interviewees. Five of the interviewees (

Sol Kerzner Solomon Kerzner, (23 August 1935 – 21 March 2020) was a South African accountant and business magnate. He founded both of South Africa's largest hotel groups, the Southern Sun Hotel Group and Sun International. He was also the Founder, Chai ...

Danie Craven Daniël Hartman Craven (11 October 1910 – 4 January 1993) was a South African rugby union player (1931–1938), national coach, national and international rugby administrator, academic, and author. Popularly known as Danie, Doc, or Mr R ...

Pieter-Dirk Uys Pieter-Dirk Uys (; born 28 September 1945) is a South African performer, author, satirist, and social activist. One of his best known roles is as Evita Bezuidenhout, an Afrikaner socialite. Background and early life Uys was born in Cape Town o ...

Walter Battiss Walter Whall Battiss (6 January 1906 – 20 August 1982) was a South African artist, also known as the creator of the "Fook Island" concept. Early life Battiss was born into an English Methodist family in the Karoo town of Somerset Eas ...

and Taubie Kushlick) were featured in the '' They shaped our century'' survey, a top 100 list published about which people had the greatest influence on South Africa during the twentieth century. ''Sunday Times'' editor,

Tertius Myburgh Albert Tertius Myburgh (26 December 1936 – 2 December 1990) was a South African journalist and editor, best known as editor of the '' Sunday Times'' between 1975-1990.

Reception

The book received favourable reviews; "She soon developed a highly individual style and the Jani Allan column, one of the most successful features in Africa's biggest newspaper, followed. She's become a formidable journalist...There's a touch of

Tom Wolfe Thomas Kennerly Wolfe Jr. (March 2, 1930 – May 14, 2018)Some sources say 1931; ''The New York Times'' and Reuters both initially reported 1931 in their obituaries before changing to 1930. See and was an American author and journalist widely ...

's '

new journalism New Journalism is a style of news writing and journalism, developed in the 1960s and 1970s, that uses literary techniques unconventional at the time. It is characterized by a subjective perspective, a literary style reminiscent of long-form non ...

' about her writing, but it is never contrived. In her choice of subjects she's attracted by what she calls 'the boquet of money' and she's good on those ubiquitous creatures of our time, the 'celebrities', whom she is able to send up without the bitchiness which tends to put me off some lady writers of the adversary school of journalism. When she's touched by something - an individual, a cause, or some little act of valour - her writing reflects immense warmth and humanity." Tertius Myburgh, Editor of the ''

'' "Your piece on me acted like a bicycle pump and I mooned around for ages, smiling foolishly and cannoning off the wallls. ic

Frank Muir Frank Herbert Muir (5 February 1920 – 2 January 1998) was an English comedy writer, radio and television personality, and raconteur. His writing and performing partnership with Denis Norden endured for most of their careers. Together they wro ...

"The only girl who ever knocked me out" Mike Weaver "Guy Fawkes couldn't brighten up Sunday better." Graham Bell "She is not destructive - but she does have a particular facility for puncturing pomposity"

Joe Sutton Joe Sutton is an American playwright. He teaches playwrighting at Dartmouth College. He is the son of actor Frank Sutton. His play ''Voir Dire'' opened in 1995 at the Seattle Repertory Theatre. The play received attention after the O. J. Simpson ...

THE PERPETUAL SPECTACLES 9 *'' Taubie Kushlick'' 11 *''

Joan Brickhill Joan Brickhill (6 March 1924 – 15 January 2014) was a South African actress who worked in radio, theatre, film, and television. Together with her husband, Louis Burke, she founded Brickhill-Burke Productions, which produced ''Meet Me in St. Lo ...

& Louis Burke'' 13 *''

Moira Lister Moira Lister Gachassin-Lafite, Viscountess of Orthez (6 August 192327 October 2007) was a South African-British film, stage and television actress and writer. Early life Born in Cape Town to Major James Lister and Margaret (née Hogan), List ...

'' 17 *''

Diane Todd Diane Todd (4 June 1937 – 18 April 2010) was a British-born and South African naturalized stage, film, television and stage actress and singer. She is best known for her illustrious stage career. Personal life Todd was born in Edinburgh and at ...

'' 19 BUSINESS MORE THAN USUAL 21 *''

'' 22 *''Benny Goldberg'' 26 *''Mike Illion'' 29 *''Tony Factor'' 33 NATIONAL MONUMENTS 37 *'' Dr Daniel Hartman Craven'' 29 *''

Jamie Uys Jacobus Johannes Uys (; 30 May 1921 – 29 January 1996), better known as Jamie Uys, was a South African film director, best known for directing the 1980 comedy film ''The Gods Must Be Crazy'' and its 1989 sequel ''The Gods Must Be Crazy II''. ...

'' 41 *''

Siegfried Mynhardt Siegfried Mynhardt (5 March 1906 – 28 March 1996) was a South African actor. Personal life Mynhardt was born in Johannesburg and lived in a Wynberg army camp, where his father was a padre. He had three children with his wife, Jocelyn. Caree ...

'' 44 *'' Patrick Mynhardt'' 47 *''Joe Stewardson'' 51 *''

Sonja Herholdt Sonja Herholdt (born 1 December 1952) is a South African singer-songwriter and Afrikaner actress. Personal life Herholdt was born in the small Gauteng mining village of Nigel and at the age of three made her first singing performance at the lo ...

'' 53 PRETTY BOYS ALL IN A ROW 57 *''Richard Loring'' 58 *''Karl Kikillus'' 60 *'' James Ryan'' 62 FUNNY YOU SHOULD SAY THAT ... 67 *''Tobie Cronje'' 69 *''

Robert Kirby Robert Kirby (16 April 1948 – 3 October 2009) was a British-born arranger of string sections for rock and folk music. He was best known for his work on the Nick Drake albums, ''Five Leaves Left'' and '' Bryter Layter'', but also worked ...

'' 70 *''Katinka Heyns'' 72 *''

'' 75 SPORTING CHANCERS 79 *''

Naas Botha Hendrik Egnatius 'Naas' Botha (born 27 February 1958) is a South African former rugby union player, who played for Northern Transvaal and South Africa (the Springboks). He was voted ''Rugby Player of the Year'' in 1979, 1981, 1985 and 1987. Bo ...

'' 80 *''Raymond Rhodes'' 83 *'' Wynand Classen'' 85 OLD MASTERS, YOUNG IDEAS 89 *''

'' 90 *''Gordon Vorster'' 93 *''

Tretchikoff Vladimir Grigoryevich Tretchikoff (Владимир Григорьевич Третчиков, , Petropavlovsk, Russian Empire, now Petropavl in Kazakhstan – 26 August 2006, Cape Town, South Africa) was an artist whose painting ''Chinese Girl' ...

'' 95 MIXED METAPHORS 101 *''John Brett Cohen'' 103 *'' The Hell's Angels'' 105 *''Alvon Collinson'' 109 *''Gunter Brözel'' 111 *'' Robert Van Tonder'' 114 *''Carole Charlewood'' 118

Dictionary

Her ''Just Jani'' column has been referenced extensively by

South African English South African English (SAfrE, SAfrEng, SAE, en-ZA) is the set of English language dialects native to South Africans. History British settlers first arrived in the South African region in 1795, when they established a military holding op ...

dictionaries because of Allan's popular use of terms such as ''jorl'', ''smaak'' and ''larney'' .

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Face Value (Book) Books by Jani Allan 1983 non-fiction books Books of interviews South African non-fiction books Books of photographs

Synopsis

Reception

Contents

Dictionary

References