July 17 launch for President's biography

by Manjula Fernando

I have written many books and biographies on several State leaders but I have never been enchanted by any one of my subjects like this ever before, Graeme Wilson, author of the first English language biography of President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga, told reporters yesterday.

Hosting a press conference at Colombo Hilton, the 35-year-old author, who counts dozens of biographies to his name on world renowned figures including former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher said this was 'the story' that personally moved him most.

"I fell in love with this story. It is very interesting, touching and moving," the author whose combined book sales total more than one million expressed.

"My previous books covered the lives of some extraordinary individuals, yet I have found writing President Kumaratunga's biography utterly compelling," he said explaining that he had built the portrait of the person and the politician through his work.

The press conference was held to announce the official launch of the book 'CBK' on July 17.

Wilson said days into his research he was affected by the enormous self sacrifices the President has made and her overwhelming desire to serve the people of the country. It was a tragedy for the country to lose all that soon due to the existing political system.

The author termed the book as an 'extraordinary life story and a powerful narrative which elaborates on the President's intimate personal and political life'.

The 125,000 word book is illustrated with several hundred photographs and according to the author the real colour to the title comes from the anecdotes and observations of the many people who spoke of her.

He quoted a remark made by one of her leading political rivals : "I cannot bring myself to agree with her politically. But if you are asking me about President Kumaratunga as a human being, that is another thing. She is one of the most remarkable persons I have ever come across, a woman who has overcome extreme personal adversity and is still a good person, with a good heart."

"Political rivals in any country rarely have a good word to say about each other. I found that really poignant," the author commented.

He added that the idea of writing a book on the Sri Lankan President coinciding her 60th birthday was conceived by him and backed by his London publishing house Media Prima. Minister Mangala Samaraweera had constantly been in touch with him during the time he authored this book.

During the past two months the author had interviewed people who had been part of her life while a team of researchers in Britain, France and Colombo worked full-time to uncover every tiny bit of interesting details of her life.

Already a tremendous response has been received for pre-print for CBK including from North America and several European countries. They have planned an initial pre-print of 100,000 copies hard cover and soft back. The book will be marked US $ 60 for the hard cover, with the proceeds, projected at US$ 2 million, going towards tsunami rehabilitation.

The author is to embark upon a post launch publicity tour in more than 10 European and North American cities.

Wilson also completed a book for SriLankan Airlines to mark its 25th anniversary recently.