{"id":241,"date":"2019-07-30T17:14:02","date_gmt":"2019-07-30T16:14:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/?p=241"},"modified":"2019-07-30T20:52:39","modified_gmt":"2019-07-30T19:52:39","slug":"larry-yaskiel-launches-latest-book","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/2019\/07\/30\/larry-yaskiel-launches-latest-book\/","title":{"rendered":"LARRY YASKIEL LAUNCHES LATEST BOOK"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The British Connection To Lanzarote And The Canaries\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Natura Palace Hotel, Playa Blanca     2019<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Winston Churchill, Francis Drake, Horatio Nelson,\nWilliam Shakespeare, Agatha Christie and The Beatles might not seem to have\nanything in common other than their fame. However, a new book, called The\nBritish Connection To Lanzarote And The Canaries, suggests these names are\nlinked in ways we might not have imagined.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I have attended many book launches in my time as a journalist,\nand even on occasions have done so as the author of the book being launched,\nbut I have rarely heard a writer so obviously in love with his subject as is\nLarry Yaskiel, the author of \u201cThe British Connection to Lanzarote and the\nCanaries \/ La conexi\u00f3n brit\u00e1nica con Lanzarote y Canarias.\u201d Text in English and\nSpanish have been published simultaneously, between the same covers, and\nLarry\u00b4s talk indicated why it is so important that it be made available to\nreaders of either language. His remarks emphasised how inextricably linked The\nCanary Islands and The British Isles have been over the last six hundred years,\nand how those links have been especially important to Lanzarote\u00b4s rapid growth\nin the tourist industry over the last three quarters of a century. \u00b4<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This was our first visit to a hotel that stands just\nround the corner from our home. It always looks attractive with its tree shaded\nentrance approach, and its plate-glass fronted reception area offers a glimpse\nof a hotel that looks warm and welcoming, especially at Christmas when it is\nfestooned with thousands of lights. As we entered and made enquiries as to how\nto reach the location of tonight\u00b4s talk we were directed, by a charming and gentlemanly\nreceptionist, across the ground floor lounge area, where there were several\npeople dotted around on soft sofas, listening to gently haunting piano pieces\nbeing played live. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This was an area that we could imagine looking\nwonderful when full on summer nights in full season. We felt sure that, even then,\nthis area would surely remain as restful and refined as it seemed tonight. However,\nwe had no time to stand and stare for we were headed downstairs into what the desk\nclerk had described to us as the theatre, and it immediately appeared perfectly\nsuited for entertainment or talks. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After following these directions through Natura Palace\nHotel in Playa Blanca, near Monta\u00f1a Roja, we stepped into a large hall where Larry\nwas seated in the centre of a raised stage with comfortable armchairs arranged\nin wide semi circles in front for the audience. He was flanked by The Mayor of Yaiza,\nOscar Noda, who played a positive role in the creation of the book, and by\nMario Ferrer, the head of the book\u00b4s publishing company. Mario, in fact, would\nalso translate Larry\u00b4s talk from English into Spanish, although we have\npreviously heard Larry give similar talks in Spanish. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There were more than fifty people gathered in the room\nby the time the talk began, promptly at seven o\u00b4clock. Such a good number of\npeople attending, (not this many people bought<\/em><\/strong> my book, let alone came to\nhear me talk about it!) was surely due to Larry\u00b4s popularity gained here on\nLanzarote during decades of his living here in later life, much of which has\nbeen spent as Editor and writer, with his wife, Liz, at Lancelot, the\nquarterly, glossy tourist information magazine. He has become such a well\ninformed and enthusiastic advocate of the Lanzarote life style that he is now\nregularly consulted about any major decisions on how best to maintain and\nprotect that unique cultural lifestyle of the island. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We also learned though, how Yaiza Tourism Councillor,\nOlga Caraballo and her staff at the local Tourist Information Office near the\nroundabout at the town beach in Playa Blanca had spent the last two or three\nweeks promoting this talk here tonight. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In our first year of living on the island we were\nalways in there making enquiries about concerts and shows etc and it was lovely\nto meet up again with a staff member we well remembered as being always caring\nand helpful to us. She was here in the audience, clutching a now almost-read\ncopy of the book in her hand, and we enjoyed a catch up chat for a couple of\nminutes. Our nattering was only brought to a close by the announcement of tonight\u00b4s\nevent. The Mayor offered some opening remarks in Spanish and then Larry\u00b4s publisher\nexplained how the event was to be conducted, before inviting Larry to begin his\ntalk. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mr. Yaskiel began by explaining why he felt it\nimportant to write a book that speaks about the economic, social, cultural and\npolitical relationship between The British Isles and The Canary Islands. His\nwork creates a chain of more than fifty such links, unearthed by Larry during\nmore than forty years of research since his \u00b4retirement\u00b4 from the music\nindustry in the nineteen eighties. Over the past three decades and more Larry\nhas trawled museums and libraries and has found links that show both Britain\nand The Canary Islands fell to a Norman Conquest. England, of course, fell in\n1066 and three centuries later, in 1402, Lanzarote and Fuertaventura fell to invaders\nof British \/ Norman descent from the Crown of Castilla. Even in these modern\ntimes I, as a Norman by name, left Britain three years ago to come and live\nhere on Lanzarote, though I cannot claim in any way to have conquered either\ncountry !<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
THE BRITISH CONNECTION by Larry Yaskiel<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Larry\u00b4s book explores the centuries that have followed\nthe real Norman invasions and how they have been marked by a fierce rivalry between\nBritain and Spain, as each has fought to control important trade routes and\nrights with America. Indeed, during this period, The Canary Islands were\nsubjected to several raids by navigators and explorers from Great Britain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Born in London in 1936, Larry Yaskiel became a senior\nmanager at various well known pop music record labels during the nineteen\nsixties. Indeed, last year we went to hear him give a talk at Cic El Almacen in\nArrecife about this period of his life. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He proved an engaging interviewee, answering questions\nfrom his interlocutor as a power-point behind him showed images of him with\nacts such as Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Supertramp, The Searchers, The Who,\nDeep Purple and The Bee Gees. We learned at that event how a 1979 holiday on Lanzarote\nmade such an impression on Larry that he subsequently settled here and started\nto operate as a writer for, and editor of, Lancelot, the first such English\nlanguage magazine in Spain, and he remains its honorary editor. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We reviewed that evening on these pages and I was\ndelighted when Larry later got in touch to say how pleased he was with the\npiece.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The launch of The British Connection to Lanzarote and\nthe Canaries seems a natural progression of his varied career and follows on\nperfectly from that talk about his work in the music industry. This event revealed\nthe strong links between the UK and Lanzarote and Larry seemed at obvious ease as\nhe ran through a six century history lecture in about an hour, laced with wit\nand affection for the place that is now his home. We learned from him about the\nfounding fathers of San Antonio, the British hunger for the banana and about\nThe Canary Islands being employed as coal depots for vessels making their way\nto and from Africa into Europe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I got in a couple if questions from the floor, one\nasking how he found the appropriate writer\u00b4s voice for a book that is factual\nand full of geographical and historical details. I paraphrase his response\nslightly but he spoke about finding a balance between being informative whilst\nalso remaining inquisitive and about never making claims that couldn\u00b4t be\nsubstantiated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He shared further information with his audience,\nanswering as many supplementary questions as he could, but to talk about all\nthat in this article would require an abundance of spoiler alerts.  I recommend instead that you look for copies\nof the title in all the good book shops of Lanzarote. Your search will\ncertainly be rewarded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I and a few others had the chance to meet again with\nLarry and Liz, the following day. The large pile of copies of the book that the\npublisher had brought with him to the previous night\u00b4s talk had run out with\nmaybe a dozen of us still wanting to purchase. There was huge merriment and\nsome good-natured teasing as the young man uttered heartfelt and somewhat\nembarrassed apologies. It was Liz Yaskiel who offered the saving grace here, by\narranging for those of us disappointed not to have a book to take away, to turn\nup in town the following day where she would ensure Larry would be at The\nTourist Information to sign them<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This gave me the opportunity of a brief discussion\nwith Larry about the progress made since the book had emerged in print. He is\nvery proud of the fact that the government of The Canary Islands have purchased\n250 copies to distribute around the schools and libraries of the islands. He\nthinks that will help a new generation of schoolchildren to take ownership of\nthis six hundred years of history whilst at the same time accepting it as a\nshared text. We spoke briefly of the importance of projects, like the writing\nof this book, creating a \u00b4legacy,\u00b4 of an afterlife of this moment of time if\nyou will. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I mentioned to Larry that I had seen a press release\nannouncing that the Cabildo is seeking to consult with representatives of its\nmunicipalities about how to fittingly celebrate the centenary of the birth of\nthe island\u00b4s favourite artist, the late Cesar Manrique. I recalled that, when\nworking as freelance poet and writer in the UK, I worked with The Lowry Theatre\nto tour local schools and facilitate the writing of poetry about the late painter\nof \u00b4matchstalk men and matchstalk cats and dogs\u00b4 after whom that theatre is\nnamed. The works produced by school pupils in a similar project over here could\nbe recited in performance, or set to music, or collated and given to a\ncommissioned artist to interpret in an artwork in a memory of Manrique, as\nenvisaged by the children, I suggested, and subsequently exhibiting it in pride\nof place in a public arena.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Larry, I\nthink, was delighted to feel able to respond very positively to my comments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00b4There\nwill indeed be a childrens’ contribution to the centenary celebration of\nManrique tribute,\u00b4 he informed me. \u00a8Individual schools have their own projects,\nwith the results from one such exercise in a Teguise school being already on\npublic display. The Cabildo Culture department is coordinating with every town\nhall for the organisation of events which include kids. The education\ndepartment of the Foundation Cesar Manrique is doing likewise.\u00b4<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Having\nseen evidence over in the UK of how such concerted thinking can help sustain\ncivic pride and awareness I found his words extremely encouraging, and I really\nhope to visit some of these events and report back to you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Larry himself is always\nkeen to pay his respects to those who have made a difference and a name he\nmentioned several times this evening was that of Olivia Stone who was the first\nwriter, male or female, to suggest in print that Lanzarote would one day enjoy\nbeing a tourist destination. I should stop here, though, before I start talking\nof The Beatles and Agatha Christie and Racquel Welch and their links to The\nCanary Islands. To do so might reduce your enjoyment of what is a fascinating\nread, of aged history and forgotten facts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe British Connection to Lanzarote and the Canaries\n\/ La conexi\u00f3n brit\u00e1nica con Lanzarote y Canarias\u201d is written by Larry Yaskiel\nand published by Ediciones Remotas, with the support of Yaiza\u00b4s Town Hall. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This may be an unwieldy title but in the\nEnglish-language words of the famous Ronseal advert on British tv, \u00b4it does\nexactly what it says on the tin !\u00b4<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The British Connection To Lanzarote And The Canaries\u201d Natura Palace Hotel, Playa Blanca     2019 Winston Churchill, Francis Drake, Horatio Nelson, William Shakespeare, Agatha Christie and The Beatles might not seem to have anything in common other than their fame. However, a new book, called The British Connection To Lanzarote And The Canaries, suggests these names […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":242,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[49],"class_list":["post-241","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-literary","tag-books-uk-lanzarote"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/241","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=241"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/241\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/242"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=241"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=241"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=241"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}