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1.     MICHAEL DU PREEZ Bio 

I have spent most of my life as a pianist/entertainer, with eight years between 1976 to 1984, as a writer/director at the Variety Department of the SABC where I wrote, produced, and broadcast over a hundred TV shows, one of which, the twenty-six weekly, ‘Money or the Box Show', was a national South African TV hit show. 

Previous publications and writing experience.

My first book, Television through the Front Door’, published by McGraw-Hill, is now out of print and out of date. 

 I next wrote 'Justice of the Wild’, a YA action/ adventure novel, about 'canned lion hunting', published in 2016 by Faraxa Publishing Malta. and rated a resounding 4 out of 4 stars. I have since withdrawn all rights to this book, and recorded it as an audiobook.  Both versions are currently seeking Traditional Re-Publication.

 I was then commissioned by the South African Education Department, to create and co-write a two-volume series of Music Textbooks for South African schools entitled, 'A Comprehensive Guide to Improvisation, Composition and Arranging', Part 1, and Part 2, from which my stand-alone music book, entitled, ‘Teach Yourself Basic Music Literacy,’ written by me alone, is derived. This practical book, for which I'm also seeking Traditional Publication, includes, all the bells and whistles, such as 'clap charts' and other extra hands-on elements which are included and could still be useful to students and professionals. The is also ideal for schools. 

I next wrote a 3-Book Middle-Grade Christian Magic Realism series, 40K words each, entitled Carruthers, self-published on Kindle, at present seeking re-publication by a Traditional Publisher. (I used to tell Carruthers stories to my children, which they far preferred over and above the usual fairy tales,) 

I am re-titling my next book ‘Forty-Five Babies’, to 'Throw-away Babies', which is an 83K word completed book. This heartbreaking, true-life story is about a remarkable woman, Lenise Hamilton who fostered forty-five, newly born abandoned babies, till they became adopted by suitable adoptive parents.  Today these blessed children, mostly grown up, are well adjusted happy people who one day may become useful citizens and happy parents themselves, due entirely to the kindness and humanity of Lenise Hamilton. This book, that every mother should read, is not only ready for a Traditional Publisher, but may well have a sequel, as since the writing of the first book, Lenise has fostered a further 16, abandoned babies, the last one of which, is still under her care, three years later, as of today, March 2026.

My latest book is ‘Jesus and the Minstrel’ an 86K word completed book, also unpublished, is ready for submission to a Traditional Publisher.   I believe this story may have relevance today in our war-torn world. 

2.     MICHAEL DU PREEZ my most recent Bio

In the meantime, for a living, I’m still a background piano player, writer and stride walker, aged ninety, and playing four mornings per week, at three hours per gig. This keeps my brain unclogged and my body fit. 

I’m currently working on a series of articles about songs and their lyrics. entitled, ‘Songwriters as Master Poets’, sub-titled ‘Legends behind the Lyrics’. Below is my first attempt.

The first story behind one of these songs I’d like to examine with you the reader, is that haunting song, 'Nature Boy', written by *eden ahbez, aka George Alexander Alberie. (*eden chose to write and spell his name in lower case letters, saying that only the words, 'God, Jesus and Infinity,' were worthy of capitalization.) 

Natalie Cole, daughter of the famous jazz pianist/singer Nat King Cole, who made the song famous, when she and her father first met eden ahbez, remarked, ‘He looks just like Jesus.’ 

eden's life as a bohemian would certainly attest to this observation, as his appearance with long hair and a beard, is certainly a widely accepted depiction of what Jesus is thought to have looked like. The Enchanted Life of eden ahbez has now been captured on film in a full documentary entitled As The Wind.

In 1908, eden was born in Brooklyn, New York to a Jewish father and a Scottish mother. He was put into a Hebrew Orphan Asylum, from which he was adopted, at eight years old, into a family in Kansas where he grew up. His first regular gig was at a health food store, which also operated a raw food restaurant, on one of the main roads in Los Angeles. 

At this venue, eden became a self-taught piano player and dance-band leader. His name at the time was George McGrew. eden took wholeheartedly to eating the raw fruit and vegetables offered at his workplace and afterwards, as a result, permanently adopted a vegetarian lifestyle. His followers and fellow musicians became known as Nature Boys, also wearing long hair and beards and eating only raw fruits and vegetables. During his time there, eden wrote many songs, using the modern lead-sheet formula of melody and chords. 

In 1947 he married Anna Jacobson, and they had a son the following year named Tatha Om Ahbez.

During that time, eden ahbez approached the backstage manager at the Lincoln Theater in LA and handed him the sheet music of Nature Boy, asking him to kindly give it to Nat King Cole who was performing there. The story goes that this gentleman forgot all about the music till much later when he stuck his hand into his inside jacket pocket to discover the music manuscript still there. Embarrassed, he presented it to Nat who soon began playing it to his live audiences. They took to the song with much acclaim and Nat King Cole decided it was good enough to record as a single. After recording it, however, he first had to track down the songwriter before he could release it. 

Nat finally found him with his followers, living out in the open, under the first large letter L, of the huge Hollywood sign in Los Angeles. That in itself was enough to garner swarms of curious paparazzi.  Of course, the media took to the situation, with their usual frenzy, when Nat King Cole’s version of Nature Boy rocketed to number one on the Billboard charts, remaining there for eight consecutive weeks and earning huge royalties. To his credit, Nat King Cole after locating eden ahbez, presented him with a cheque for $25,000.

The song became a standard and was covered by most of the big-name artistes of the time. These included Frank Sinatra, Pat Boone and Sarah Vaughan among many others. 

eden ahbez was an avid believer in God and lived his life accordingly. He went on to write many more songs, most of which are presented in the documentary film, As the Wind. Tragically, this talented musician died as a result of a car accident in 1995 at age 86.

The lyrics of Nature Boy could appear, at first glance, to be rather mundane, but if you look closer, they seem to possess a certain mystique.  Who was this boy? Dig a little deeper and the lyrics may very well depict a fragment of the life of Jesus, during His ‘lost years’ between the age of twelve, when we encounter Him in Jerusalem with the learned men and doctors of the law, until He reappears eighteen years later, as a thirty-year-old, to start His mission of Salvation.

The lyrics, whether or not intentionally written to have portrayed the unknown and lost years of Jesus Himself as a Boy and young Man, nevertheless seem to do just that.  Shall we go through them line by line and see if we can agree? 

Nature Boy 

There was a boy, a very strange, enchanted boy. . .  One must surely admit that Jesus was no ordinary Boy. Without doubt, He would appear to most as ‘strange and enchanted’. 

They say He wandered very far, very far, over land and sea. . .   It is recorded in Luke, Chapter 2 verse 41, that Jesus, as a Boy of twelve, was left behind in Jerusalem at the Feast of the Passover. It is easy to understand in those days how a child could be left behind and only be found much later, as it was customary for families to make the journey to Jerusalem in groups. The children would often mix with others of their age and ‘sleep out’, with their friends. The parents were never unduly worried because they were always safe. 

On their return journey home however, when Mary and Joseph looked for their twelve-year-old Son, Jesus, even though he was ‘of age’, they were nevertheless concerned when He was nowhere to be found among the travelers. These travelling families were obliged to wait while Mary and Joseph made their way back to Jerusalem to search for Him. 

There at the Temple after three days, young Jesus was found, talking about His Father God to the Priests who were, quite simply, ‘amazed at His understanding and His answers’. Jesus knew that God was His Father, by what He said later to Mary, ‘Did you not know I had to be about my Father’s business?’ Little wonder these Priests and Doctors of the Law kept Him there for so long. They obviously must have provided food and shelter for Him during His sojourn with them. 

With His independent spirit, it is well within the realms of possibility that Jesus might have wandered very far, over land and sea during the ‘lost’ years that are not recorded in the Gospels.

A little shy and sad of eyes . . .  Jesus no doubt would have had a sad look in His eyes. He knew firstly, what His future destination on the Cross was going to be. Secondly, He also knew that it was up to Him, alone, to save sinful mankind by offering them salvation and eternal life at the cost of His own earthly life.  

 but very wise was He . . .    The lyricist then goes on to say He was very wise. Nobody could ever deny that Jesus was not wise in every respect. Being begotten of God, who designed and created the entire universe for His only Son, Jesus most certainly would be all-knowing and wise beyond human understanding.

And then one day, one magic day, He passed my way. . .  eden ahbez next considers the day this Boy (in our view, Jesus) passed his way and describes it as, ‘magic’. Why would he say that? Obviously when one meets a stranger for the first time, particularly One, who at first glance appears to be ‘strange and enchanted’, the Boy must have said or done something that seemed to be magical. One wonders if the Boy did not radiate a feeling of wellbeing towards eden, or perform some little miracle that could be perceived as something magical? 

 And as we spoke of many things, fools and kings . . . The Boy and eden obviously spoke for a considerable time, covering most of the topics of the world, good and bad. Things such as may exist among fools and kings and probably everything in between.

This He said to me . . .This would be the one thing that really stuck in eden ahbez’ mind.

The greatest thing you will ever lean . . . ‘The greatest thing,’ infers that the statement about to be made is momentous. It is not easy to come by, but it is something that must be learned. ‘It can take time, so this greatest thing   he will ever learn may take a lifetime to acquire. This implies that of all the things in his whole life that he will ever learn, what the Boy is about to tell him, is captured in the following stanza. What is it?

Is how to love . . .  This is a most difficult phrase to unpack and understand fully.  How to love is an action. It could be contained in any modern instruction manual. Many books are written on how to do this, and how to do that. These are instruction handbooks, which teach you step by step how to master certain skills. So, if that is the case, dare we presume that loving is a skill which can be learned? However, what sort of love are we talking about here? There are three types of love. Eros, Philia and Agape.

Eros is sexual attraction, Philia is brotherly love, while Agape is the love of God. Agape is a sacrificial love, a love that will pay any price to care for someone. So, while mankind was still sinful, Jesus loved us.

and be loved in return . . . This is the cherry and interestingly in the passive voice. To be loved requires another, to do the loving. This could also be negatively construed as making a deal. ‘If you love me, I’ll love you in return’. But somehow this idea does not ring true with the preceding lyrics.

Could it be that the ‘returned love’ is as a direct result of learning how to love? If you master the skill of learning how to love, would being loved in return, be a natural response flowing from out of the Divine, and into your heart?

There are many more possibilities to be put forward, but one thing is certain, the lyrics of Nature Boy as a whole seems to encompass a strong element of the Divine.

The song, Nature Boy, can be found on most media platforms It’s worth listening to. However, Nat King Cole’s vocal version, is supreme. 

Nature Boy by eden ahbez

My Current Status.  In between writing, as a professional pianist/composer/songwriter, I live in Johannesburg South Africa with my wife, Elaine and Elise our daughter, who unfortunately has MS, and her husband Brent, a plumber.

During these many years, I lead a church band and composed several single gospel songs plus two mini-operas, one of which, ‘No Ordinary Man’, received a standing ovation.

‘Jesus and the Minstrel’ is my latest book, as I believe the story may have relevance in today's war torn world, as readers re-assess their biblical beliefs.

My website address is www.michaelmaestrodupreez.com

 Original Music Compositions

During these many years, I was leader of a church band and composed several single gospel songs and two mini-operas, one of which, ‘No Ordinary Man’, received a standing ovation and awaits global exposure, possibly to Churches worldwide.

My Earlier Life

It was in my role as Mr Snow in the stage production of Carousel that I met my wife Elaine who was my dresser backstage. We have been happily married for fifty-six years.  I retired as the resident pianist at the Country Club Johannesburg in October 2011 and have since dedicated my time to composing and writing,   

I'm also a songwriter and composer of Gospel Music and other genres. My Gospel compositions include Mini-Operas, such as ‘No Ordinary Man’, ‘Sermon on the Mount’ and ‘How Excellent is His Name’. I co-wrote a full-length musical, ‘A Different Dance’, which was commissioned and performed by Rand Afrikaans University (now University of Johannesburg). After that I composed a full-length ballet ‘The Wandering Jew’ and written and composed a full-length historical Grand Opera entitled, ‘Adam Tas’. 

I have many singing and solo piano albums to my credit. Most of these have been lost and/or purloined from the archives of the SABC.