The other Ondaatje

Fri, 26 May 2000 17:20:00 +0000

Christopher Ondaatje was raised in one of Sri Lanka's most powerful
colonial families. And though his family later fell into poverty, he went on
to create a billion-dollar empire in Canada. Along the way Ondaatje, 66,
became an Olympic sportsman, then turned his hand to writing and achieved
bestseller status as a biographer. He has also carved a reputation as an
accomplished explorer, wildlife photographer, philanthropist and
international art collector.

"In the early 1970s, I was steeped in the world of North American finance,"
he says in a precise, clipped voice. "Then I read a book, called 'The Devil
Drives,' by Fawn Brody, and it changed my life."

Tall and elegant, the older brother of poet-novelist href="/books/feature/2000/04/25/ondaatje/index.html">Michael Ondaatje
looks at the pictures on the walls around us as he talks. "'The Devil
Drives' is a biography of Victorian explorer Sir Richard Burton," he says,
with a faint colonial twang to his words. "I was hacking my way through the
jungles of finance, and I suddenly realized his was the life I would have
preferred to have led. For over a quarter of a century, I have been
fascinated with Burton. And I was obsessed by his search for the source of
the Nile with John Hanning Speke over 150 years ago, which contributed to
his being the best-known traveler of the 19th century.

Salon.com > Nick Ryan

The other Ondaatje