2010 WORLD CUP BOOK

Mercia Strieman (67), a former head girl at Collegiate Girls High School in Port Elizabeth, has written "On the Ball - ­ Getting to Know You Before 2010", a book about the World Cup, from its history to information about the countries taking part and the host cities. The useful book also includes South African slang words and information about local food, heritage sites and important people. Mercia completed Matric in 1959 and went to Barkly House Teachers‘ Training College in Cape Town. She married in 1965 and moved to Durban, where she was a pre-primary school principal and started Durban‘s first car-boot and second-hand clothing flea market in 1992. After retiring, she co-authored "Clued up on Culture" with Barbara Elion in 2003. The book gives information about what to do, say, and give as gifts when it comes to births, deaths and other ceremonies that mark the passage of life in different South African cultures. Although not a soccer fan, Mercia produced the book with help from her family. Her daughter Lorin, a computer textile and beadwork designer, did the photography.