Ian McDonald

About Ian McDonald

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Articles by Ian McDonald

The Golden Tree of Life

Having worked 52 years in the sugar industry, including working closely with Governments and regional institutions along the way, if there is one thing I have learned it is the extreme frailty of all grand plans.

Essequibo

There are times my wife and I go up the great Essequibo to stay at the beautiful river-home of my brother-in-law and his wife.

True value in our lives

It is necessary to repeat again and again that in the background of all our lives there exists a fundamental and dominating lie.

A blessed retreat

In my home, a step down off the dining room, overlooking the beautiful garden my wife has created, I have my studiolo. 

Never-ending knowledge

I thank whatever Gods that be that even at the age of 89 my mind remains restless and eager to absorb new facts, new theories, new ways of looking at life and the world, new stories of mankind’s continual search for perfected knowledge, new illuminations of the spirit.

Tragedy and fame

Giacomo Leopardi, who was to become one of the greatest poets of his time, was born in 1798 on his parents’ estate near the small Italian town of Recanati in the dusty hills above the Adriatic sea.

Aubade

“Most things never happen: this one will”.  Poets write more frequently about death than any other subject, except possibly love.

Life

I tell the story of Tony Judt. Tony Judt was a writer on recent world history whom I greatly admired. 

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