Sylvester Stein

Sylvester Stein was born on 25 December in 1920 in Cape Town, and was brought up in Durban. He studied engineering at Howard College in Natal before serving in the Royal Navy.

After World War II he became a reporter for the Rand Daily Mail. After serving as political editor for the Rand Daily Mail, Stein took on the editorship of Drum magazine, where he spent three years working with a staff of black writers, who would later become well known for their accounts of life under apartheid.

In the late 1950s, Stein left South Africa, and settled in London, where he launched The London Property Letter, which was aimed at non-professionals interested in the real estate market.

In the 1980s, Stein also founded Running magazine, which was later sold to Rodale Press in 1995. During this time, Stein competed in both British and international athletic competitions, and won numerous medals, including an Olympic medal.

In the 1990s, Stein founded Electric Word Publishing, after selling his newsletter to a large company in the late 1980s.

Stein has written several books, including the satirical novel, 2nd Class Taxi in 1958, which was banned and What the World Owes Me by Mary Bowes in 1960.

Most recently, Stein wrote the book Who Killed Mr. Drum?, which was published in 1999 and produced as a play in 2005. This story is partly an autobiographical account of Stein’s experiences while working as editor of Drum, and partly an investigation into the death of one of Drum’s reporters, Henry Nxumalo.

Stein currently lives in Highbury, London with his wife, Sarah.