Nelson Mandela will release a new memoir focusing on the best of his personal archives and letters from his time as anti-apartheid activist and former South African president, the publisher Macmillan said Wednesday. Mandela, 91, shared the 1993 Nobel Peace Prize with then-South African President F.W. DeKlerk for their work in steering the country toward democracy. Jon Butler, who oversees nonfiction publishing at Pan Macmillan, said he worked out a deal Monday with Jonny Geller of the Curtis Brown Agency on behalf of the Johannesburg-based Nelson Mandela Foundation to publish the work in Britain and elsewhere. “He's written every day of his life, and what he wants to do is to make that available,” Butler told AP Television News. “So we've done a deal for UK and Commonwealth rights, including South Africa and Australia.” “We've seen some of his wonderful letters, letters he wrote during his time on Robben Island, diaries, notes to himself before meeting presidents and celebrities, and you just feel very close to the man,” Butler said. “Just seeing his writing on a page, just seeing his thoughts coming out, so it's very exciting. In Johannesburg Wednesday, Verne Harris, acting director of Mandela's foundation, said the book would be based on diaries, notebooks and calendar jottings in the foundation's archives. Geller said the material is intense, emotional and personal, including letters to his children and his wife.
