Storyteller of the Skies - interview with Elmo Jayawardena
I have a new interview posted on the website. It's with Elmo Jayawaredena. Here's an excerpt from the interview:
***
Elmo: I was born in Sri Lanka, a small town called Moratuwa. That is where I grew up and that is where my permanent home is. I have been an aviator all my adult life, flew big jets for SIA and retired in 2007 and now I train pilots for Sri Lankan Airlines. My main occupation in life is working with the poor through a humanitarian organisation I founded AFLAC International http://www.aflacinetrnational.com/ - that would say it all.
.... I wrote a lot to the news papers from my young days. I never spoke a word of English till I was 17. Of course we studied English. Then I thought I will write a book. To write a book you need thoughts and an acceptable way to express them. I am a self taught writer and very proud of it for what comes out from me is pure me.
... Sam Story was a story I did not have to create. Sam worked for me, a very poor retarded boy who showed me a different meaning to life. Sam’s Story is about the poverty of Sri Lanka and the war that has killed more than 60,000 people – the book is a lesson in life – that is how I see it. Penguin India is putting out a new Sam’s Story in April and a movie is almost completed in Sri Lanka. Sam’s Story won the Gratiaen award for the best book in 2001.
***
.... I wrote a lot to the news papers from my young days. I never spoke a word of English till I was 17. Of course we studied English. Then I thought I will write a book. To write a book you need thoughts and an acceptable way to express them. I am a self taught writer and very proud of it for what comes out from me is pure me.
... Sam Story was a story I did not have to create. Sam worked for me, a very poor retarded boy who showed me a different meaning to life. Sam’s Story is about the poverty of Sri Lanka and the war that has killed more than 60,000 people – the book is a lesson in life – that is how I see it. Penguin India is putting out a new Sam’s Story in April and a movie is almost completed in Sri Lanka. Sam’s Story won the Gratiaen award for the best book in 2001.
***
To read more of this interview, please click here
0 comments:
Post a Comment