Thank you Lucy for another opportunity to glean from you more of the intricacies that go on behind the scenes during the publishing process. We learnt a lot from our first session and are looking forward to hearing much more today. Let us dive right in.
So how have your interactions with people from different ages, cultures, races, and backgrounds influenced or changed you as a person?
Thanks again Truphie for according me this opportunity. You know, we are all socialised differently, depending on the background we come from, which influences our perceptions about people from different races, communities and religions. We live in a society that defines individuals in a certain way. It then becomes natural to view the people we meet in the way we have been socialised. However, working with the numerous people from across different sectors in our society in our mini-biographies shattered these perceptions and stereotypes for me.
I remember the story of a certain gentleman in one of the editions. He is a wealthy Asian business mogul, running one of the most successful companies in Kenya. However, he had an extremely underprivileged background. He recounted how his home was so infested with cockroaches, to the point that they did not know what to do about them. They were all over the home. The only place he recalled escaping to for some reprieve was the toilet when he wanted to read. He was okay with the story when we requested him to confirm the details before going to press. However, when he shared it with his family, they dissuaded him from have it published because they felt that it was too raw. We were at the printers when this news got to us and had to do away with his story prior to going to print.
We also had an opportunity to interview Supreme Court Justice, Njoki Ndung’u’s late mother and her husband for the Elders Book. It was a story of true love. I recall them recounting how they lost contact in their 20s and finally reconnecting much later. They spent an amazing few years together before she passed away in 2022.
I have listened to stories about abuse in marriages, felt the pain and agony that rock families, and also experienced the surge of hope when the narrative changes for the better. These are just some of the stories and experiences that were eye-openers in a major way for me. They allowed me to peel back the societal stereotypes and perceptions, and see the humanity in people from every layer of society. Many of the people had a difficult background, some with debilitating challenges that they fought to overcome to get to where they were. Their stories strengthened and deeply inspired me at a personal level, even as we shared them with the world through our publications.
Wow! That was definitely transformational, and thank you for sharing it with us. I’m curious about the diverse themes in the Footprints Press publications. What advised your choices on the various themes selected, and how did you go about selecting what would be published?
For starters, the entire concept of these publications originates with Susan Githuku, the Founder and Publisher of Footprints Press. The books are her brainchild and she is the carrier of the vision; everything else flows from there. Her collaborative style of working saw me and others plug into the various projects. The themes we had were informed by various seasons. For instance, as mentioned earlier, she noted that there were numerous high achieving men and women in our Kenyan society, yet their profiles barely existed anywhere in a systematic way. Young people thus found mentors in high achieving individuals from the West and other parts of the world whose stories were well documented. This is how the Life Journeys Series was birthed. Once the criteria for the interviewees was ascertained, we engaged the list of men and women to be featured in these editions.
Another book that was informed by a different season was Kenya at 50. We did this particular edition in 2013 when Kenya turned 50. Individuals were requested to write about Kenya, and what we had achieved in the past 50 years. It was simply amazing, reading all the well-thought out pieces that came in, and I must say that this was a most insightful publication.
Mothers and Daughters, was another edition which came round when Susan became a grandmother. Some of the questions we began asking ourselves as we conceptualised the ideas for this book were; what were mothers passing on to their daughters? What could have gone wrong and what went right in the journey of motherhood, with a focus on daughters? And so, in this edition, we had mothers and daughters penning candid letters to each other. It was a real place of healing for many mothers and daughters as they opened up to share their stories with the world.
It is wonderful to hear how each of the editions came about. Of all the publications done so far, which ones are your personal favourite and why? And how many editions in total have you done?
Now that’s a difficult question. It’s interesting that people often ask that, but it is not so easy for me to just point out favourites, because each edition takes a piece of you. I have personal anecdotes and experiences from all of them. I poured myself into these books, and they have also contributed to who I have become over time. However, I must say that the Wisdom of the Elders was a unique edition for me. Listening to various elders as they churned out knowledge, insights and wisdom learnt throughout their lives was simply phenomenal. There was no pretense, no fake narratives and no ego as they spoke. Their stories were all raw and real as they focused on what legacy they were leaving to those coming after them. Other than this, the other remarkable edition I would point out is the sports book – Going the Distance: The Greatest of Kenya’s Relentless Runners (1958-2018). As already pointed out, it was in the oven for ten years and has turned out to be one of our best-selling edition to date. Footprints Press as at 2023 has compiled and published 15 editions.
Talking of this particular sports book, what challenges led to having it take that long and what kept you going through this and other tough projects to get the job done?
For starters, we were going back as far as 1958 for the Kenyan sportsmen and women. It was difficult to reach many of them. Next, we needed to have photos of each of them, and not as they are now, but while in action, especially as they won the various races they took part in. It was a shocking revelation to discover that our archival system for some of these events and personalities is almost non-existent. Some of the few photos we found in the archives were of poor quality and would not print well in books. Susan ultimately had to contact Getty images to purchase the high quality photos we needed, a venture which ran into millions of shillings by the time we obtained all the photos required. Compiling this particular edition from start to finish before going to press was in the tens of millions of shillings—all personally funded by Susan. I cannot explain in full what it has been like for me, watching how passionate she is for Kenya, and the extent that she is willing to go to document for posterity. Every job is done with excellence and to near-perfection. She has literally funded the compilation of this country’s great legacy.
Another challenge we experienced, and from which we learnt the hard way, was discovering that some of the content collected was not original. Some of the people we worked with to handle the interviews were journalists who did not want to do the hard work. They simply picked information from the internet and presented it as their own. Of course, we rejected every such submission. We had to start from scratch, and our editor, the late Gordon Boy, played a big part in researching and rewriting some of the stories. Many people got impatient and wanted to see the final publication, but we understood that taking time to perfect the content was critical. Even a baby has a certain timeline for gestation before being born. And so for each edition, and having learnt from the experience of the various books, we were able to listen with our hearts and know when the book was ready to go to press.
What feedback have you received from the readers, on the impact your publications have had on them or the society?
We have had heartwarming responses from both the interviewees as well as their family members. The Wisdom of the Elders which was published in 2013 stands out for me in this regard. I have bittersweet memories of it as many of the elders we talked to have since passed on. Ten years later, we have had numerous family members coming back to thank us for taking the time to capture and immortalise the stories of their loved ones. Others speak about how the brief narratives inspired them as a family to record and write the stories of these elders in full, and they were truly grateful they did while they were still alive.
However, we also had the flipside in responses. A few people demanded to be paid before their stories could be featured in our books, during the process of publication. After press, we had numerous haters. We saw comments from people criticising the published editions, lamenting why certain individuals were not featured in the books. We made our peace with it and ignored their comments, as we understood the sacrifice, time and resources that had gone into compiling each edition, and all the dynamics that came with each project.
Where can readers find the Footprints Press publications?
They are stocked at Bookstop in Yaya Center, Text Book Centre, Prestige Bookshop and Nuria Store.
This has truly been a most interesting and intriguing session with you Lucy. Any parting shot?
I must say that even as I look back, I’m filled with gratitude to God for the journey He has brought me through. His plans for me have always been good, even when I encountered challenging times. I cannot say that I am a trained editor, and yet I learnt the trade on the job through the numerous projects I got to handle. It was also a great blessing that God connected me to Susan, initially through employment, and later when she established Footprints Press. I made many mistakes along the way, but Susan allowed me to keep working and to refine the process on the go, which has been a humbling experience. I cannot thank God enough for her.
It has also been a great joy for me, working on each of these projects for Footprints Press. Taking the concepts from Susan and midwifing them to life, then encountering different people, hearing their stories and sharing them with the world, has been nothing short of epic and transformational for me. I can say with confidence that our editions and the stories of people therein will speak to the readers’ hearts, minds and definitely their lives. What more can I say, I’m grateful!
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