US-India Writing Station

More Voices on the Verandah

Reflect on the lives and mores

of the Anglo-Indian community

“More Voices on the Verandah is the seventh book on the Anglo-Indian culture and way of life. These stories and essays provide not just a third perspective to British and Indian viewpoints, but also offer readers the deepest and most authentic insight into the lives and mores of the Anglo-Indian community.”

~~Blair Williams~~

Publisher's Preface

Twelve years ago, CTR books started with the question, “How will posterity remember the Anglo-Indian community?” The answer was not reassuring. Historically the Anglo-Indian community was defined by either English or Indian writers, and most of the descriptions were not complimentary – in fact many created (or reinforced) negative stereotypes of Anglo-Indian men and women. Rather than complain or protest, we decided to publish a series of books, written by members of the community and those that knew them well, to provide a balanced view. Today this vision has been realized, and, with ‘More Voices on the Verandah’, we have seven* books on the Anglo-Indian culture and way of life. The stories and essays in these books provide not merely a third perspective to the British and Indian viewpoints, they offer readers an unassailably authentic insight into the lives of individual Anglo-Indians and the ethos of their unique community.  They represent an invaluable source of information to researchers.   

Since More Voices on the Verandah will probably be the last of the series, it is my pleasure to acknowledge the many who have contributed so generously to all seven books.  First there are the two phenomenal editors—Margaret Deefholts (Voices on the Verandah, The Way We Were, and Women of Anglo-India) and Lionel Lumb (The Way We Are and More Voices on the Verandah).  I would be hard put to describe their ability, industriousness, and dedication.  They have been most ably assisted by co-editors Sylvia W. Staub, Glen Deefholts, Deborah Van Velduizen, and Susan Deefholts.  Anglo-Indians owe all these stellar editors and writers a large debt of gratitude. 

Each book had a panel of five judges and they spent innumerable hours in reading, debating and then selecting a limited number of entries. The judges included Margaret Deefholts (Vancouver Canada), Lionel Lumb (Ottawa Canada), Susan Deefholts (Waterloo, Canada), Sylvia Staub (Tuscon, US), Ellen Williams (New Jersey, US), David McMahon (Melbourne, Australia), Kathy Cassity (Hawaii, USA), Robyn Andrews (Wellington, New Zealand), Alison Blunt (London, UK) and Peter Moss (Selangor, Malaysia). What an international group. And all of them are volunteers.

My thanks to the many contributing authors for submitting so many outstanding stories and articles.  I am only sorry some of them were excluded from publication because of space limitations.  Each book brought in close to 100 entries that came from every major English-speaking country of the world, but space being limited, we restricted selections to about 40.  The box to your left, detailing submissions and selections for More Voices on the Verandah, is typical.  My thanks, as well, to Harry Maclure, editor of the journal Anglos in the Wind, for designing the eye-catching covers of all seven books, and to Thompson Shore, our US printers, for their tremendous support.

 It has been exhilarating to have had a distant vision and then to have watched it materialize, year after year, book after book.  Of course, such a project could only have been accomplished in the 21^st Century, Microsoft and the Internet making it possible to instantly communicate, edit, organize, and print.

Finally, my gratitude to readers around the world for buying the books.  As you know, the money from sales goes to CTR (the charity helping less fortunate Anglo-Indians in India).  Starting out with a few seniors and children in 1998, today the charity provides pensions to over 300 seniors and helps to educate over 200 children across six Indian cities.  For details, do visit CTR’s website http://www.blairrw.org

I do hope you have enjoyed and will enjoy the books we have published. We have defined and described our culture and way of life for posterity. I hope all of you will share my pride in this achievement

Blair Williams, New Jersey, USA

(Publisher of CTR books; founder of CTR) 

Contact: blairrw@att.net

* Anglo-Indians (Blair Williams 2002)

Haunting India (Margaret Deefholts 2003)

Voices on the Verandah (Margaret Deefholts and Sylvia Staub 2004)

The Way We Were (Margaret Deefholts and Glen Deefholts 2006)

The Way We Are (Lionel Lumb and Deborah Van Veldhuizen 2008)

Women of Anglo-India (Margaret Deefholts and Susan Deefholts)

More Voices on the Verandah (Lionel Lumb)

 

Retail price $ 18.00 plus local shipping and handling 

For more information on ordering, contact:

Blair Williams blairrw@att.net 

or website http://www.blairrw.org/ctr/more-voices-verandah-2012

 

 Back Cover: Contributors & Comments

Published by Blair Williams, CTR Inc Publishing, NJ, USA

Library of Congress Control Number: 2012938981

 

The gross income on all sales will go to CTR Inc,

a not for profit charity,

established to help less fortunate

seniors and children in India.

 

http://www.blairrw.org/ctr/index.php

The "Publisher's Preface" and the book's cover have been reprinted on this webpage with the kind permission of Blair Williams, Publisher, CTR Inc Publishing, NJ, USA. Copyright: CTR Inc Publishing 2012.

 

Retail price $ 18.00 plus local shipping and handling  

For more information on ordering, contact:

Blair Williams blairrw@att.net 

or website http://www.blairrw.org/ctr/more-voices-verandah-2012

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