Uys, Errol Lincoln
Biography
Errol Lincoln Uys (pronounced ‘Ace’) is a writer and editor with thirty years' experience in the United States, England and Africa. His writing career began at the age of 10, when he completed a novella entitled, Revenge. After high school, he became a reporter for the Johannesburg Star, then the editor of the Cape edition of Post Newspapers, at the time the largest weekly newspaper in South Africa. Moving to London, he worked as the chef-reporter for the South-East London Mercury before joining Reader’s Digest. The magazine sent him back to South Africa, where he found the first South African editorial office for Reader’s Digest. In 1972 Uys became the editor-in-chief of Reader's Digest in South Africa, after five years he migrated with his family to the United States, becoming the senior international editor at the magazine's United States headquarters. A lunch meeting in 1977 with Fulton ‘Tony’ Oursler, the managing editor at Reader’s Digest, the idea for a book on the history of South Africa was discussed. Uys wrote a proposal, including research and topic recommendation, which he submitted to Oursler. The proposal was accepted and passed the James A. Michener for consideration. Michener’s acceptance in 1978 began a two-year collaboration between Uys and Michener that produced The Covenant. As Uys worked on The Covenant, he was inspired and encouraged by Michener to return to writing. After the completion of The Covenant, Uys resigned from Reader’s Digest in 1980 and began researching for his book Brazil in January 1981. Brazil was published in 1986, a five year project that included one year of extensive travel throughout Brazil. Uys’s second novel, Riding the Rails is a non-fiction account that follows several children and teenagers during the 1930s as they roam American by riding the rail. Uys is currently working on The Boston Trilogy, a fictional work that explores city and its role in the birth of America.