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Harold Koopowitz grew up in the Eastern Cape of South Africa where he spent most of his childhood exploring the plants and animals of the veldt. He has a master’s degree from Rhodes University in South Africa and a Ph.D. from UCLA. Harold lives in Orange County, Southern California where he is Professor Emeritus in biology at the University of California at Irvine. He has written a number of non-fiction books on conservation and gardening topics. His hobbies include breeding flowers and writing. He shares a modest home and very large greenhouse with his husband Stephen Hampson who is horticulturist and proofreader supreme. Darold has been honored with the Herbert Medal from the International Plant Life Society; the Westonbirt Orchid Medal as well as the Ralph B. White Medal for innovation in daffodil breeding from the Royal Horticultural Society. He has been recognized with the Orchid Digest Medal for meritorious work on orchids as well as the Gold Medal from the American Orchid Society, in addition to the Gold Medal from the American Daffodil Society.

This is a non-stop adventure story set in Southern Africa. George and Matilda with their young associate William and his boyfriend, Jake, are forced into a search for an unusual orchid potentially worth billions of dollars. But what happened to the geologist who found the flower while prospecting for alluvial diamonds in an inhospitable part of the Dark Continent? George and his associates must face a multitude of dangers in their quest as they try to decide what are the real threats? Are they facing supernatural creatures with human bodies and animal heads? Are there really evil spirits that suck the flesh of one’s fingers and toes? What of the strange halfmen? And who else is trying to sabotage their mission? Along the way we meet some interesting characters and a dog named Boris. It all comes to a climax in a pitched battle, at dawn, among the halfmen.

“In His Book, “Diamond and Disas,” Author Harold Koopowitz Transports Readers to the Desolate Parts of Southern Africa

When George, a botanist, and lecturer at the University of California, was asked for a consultation by Paul Tylo, the head of a massive mining firm, he found himself immersed in a continuous, action-packed adventure set in Southern Africa.

George and Matilda are obliged to go on the quest for a rare orchid that might be worth billions of dollars, along with their young assistant William and his new boyfriend, Jake. They must accomplish it by revealing facts and warnings written in an ancient book. The disappearance of an amateur geologist first deployed by Tylo verified the book’s authenticity. The book is filled with paranormal legends and mentions monsters from African cultures, such as tokoloshes and halfmen, who were thought to defend the valley where the orchid was discovered.

What happened to the geologist who found the flower while searching for alluvial diamonds in the arid part of the Dark Continent? Will they encounter and deal with paranormal creatures with human bodies and animal heads? Is it true that dreadful spirits consume one’s fingers and toes? What about the halfmen?

The novel is a hybrid of fiction and non-fiction. The breadth of Koopowitz’s orchid expertise is on full show, with references that will pique the interest of orchid aficionados. Readers who aren’t interested in botany will be drawn in by the aspects of adventure, action, suspense, and African culture. Koopowitz strikes the ideal blend between instructional and thrilling in this book.

Go with George and his crew. Get your copy.”

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