Lamu Loses a Legend
Errol Trzebinski, 88
Errol Trzebinski, the British author best known for chronicling Kenya’s colonial-era Happy Valley set, died peacefully last weekend, her daughter Gabriela said. She was 88.
Errol spent decades on the Kenyan coast—first Shanzu in Mombasa, then in Lamu town—where she became a fixture in the local art, literary, and social scenes. Her books, including The Life and Death of Lord Erroll and Silence Will Speak, helped inspire the screen play for Out of Africa.
In 2001, her life took a dark turn. Her son, Antonio (“Tonio”), a painter, was found shot dead in his car outside the home of a Danish big-game huntress with whom he was reportedly having an affair. His wife, Anna, was in Arizona taking a course in co-dependency. The killer took Tonio’s phone but left a thick wad of cash leaving denizens of Karen neighborhood wondering why a thief would run off without the money? Ranks closed, tongues wagged. A local mechanic was arrested with Tonio’s SIM card.
I met Tonio and Anna in 1998 in Montauk, NY, where the American photographer, Peter Beard, was hosting a party at his sprawling ranch. He looked like Heath Ledger; she, a blonde Elizabeth Taylor. I was investigating a controversy involving a stash of supposed “ancient witch doctor” artifacts—bones, tusks, horns—the kind of macabre collection you’d expect to find locked in a strong room. Beard’s longtime nemesis, Kenya Wildlife Service then chief Dr. Richard Leakey, accused him and his English ranch manager of trafficking the items globally. Leakey’s rangers raided Hog Ranch in Nairobi, but Beard—tipped off—was already there when they arrived. He slipped away untouched. The manager wasn’t so lucky. Leakey had him arrested as he returned from a meditation trip in India. Tonio told me the whole thing had started as “a joke”—that became a wild success.
That was years before I met Errol.
When I moved to Lamu in 2010, we became fast friends. She hosted me at Furaha (“Happy”) House, and we met for our Sunday “prayers” (Old Pals) at Peponi, with Roland – no minor player – usually in tow. We shared a love of writing and an aversion to white lies, especially those told at the expense of the voiceless.
No one has ever been convicted of murdering a British citizen in Kenya. But Errol never wavered. She knew who killed her son—and it wasn’t a thief.
Further reading:
The Shadow of Happy Valley https://archive.vanityfair.com/article/2002/3/the-shadow-of-happy-valley
The Murder that Split the Family https://www.thetimes.com/uk/law/article/the-murder-mystery-that-split-a-family-gc3thr5z8?region=global
African Dreamer https://archive.vanityfair.com/article/share/4bbaebc0-fb51-48b6-bcec-7a66cb5832a6
