Robert Dederick

He was educated at Taunton School, Somerset and served in the British Army during World War II. He worked as a solicitor in England 1947-1951 and emigrated to Cape Town, South Africa in 1951. He married Sheila (née Solomon) in 1949 and had four children. He worked as a legal advisor for BP Southern Africa 1952–1981. His nephew was the British poet, Pete Morgan. Dederick published two collections of poems, The Quest and other Poems and Bifocal. He was a regular contributor to The Cape Times, Standpunte, New Coin, Contrast, etc. His work is represented in a number of anthologies including The Penguin Book of South African Verse, Inscapes, A Century of South African Poetry and Halala Madiba: Nelson Mandela in Poetry. The phrase "Ah big yaws?" from his poem A Variation on a Theme of Thomas Hardy's was used as the title of Robin Malan's book on South African English and his poem A Prayer in the Pentagon provided inspiration for the song Typical Situation by Dave Matthews. Also a freelance sports reporter on cricket and field hockey for the Cape Argus and in later years became a regular broadcaster on the English radio station of the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC). He was an active member of the Owl Club, Cape Town.

• Poetry collections The Quest and other Poems. Purnell, Cape Town, 1968. Bifocal. David Philip, Cape Town, 1974.