The Hon. Louise Bennett-Coverly has passed
By Kenrick Josephs, Staff Reporter
Jamaican cultural icon, the Honourable Mrs. Louise Bennett-Coverly,
more popularly known to the world as 'Ms. Lou', collapsed and died
today at the Scarborough Grace Hospital in Toronto, Canada, after
collapsing at home earlier in the morning.
Ms. Lou, possibly Jamaica's most loved folklorist, artist and writer
appeared in leading humorous roles in several Jamaican pantomimes and
television shows. Ms. Lou, through her poems, often captured all the
spontaneity of the expression of Jamaicans' joys, sorrows and culture.
Though she has spent almost two decades residing in Toronto, Canada,
she still received homage from the Jamaican community and has has a
huge international following. She was appointed a Member of the Order
of Merit (OM) for her invaluable and distinguished contribution to the
development of the Arts and Culture in Jamaica on Independence Day in
2001.
Miss Lou, who was predeceased by her late husband impresario Eric
"Chalktalk" Coverley, leaves son Fabian and many "adopted"
children.
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LOUISE SIMONE BENNETT
LOUISE SIMONE BENNETT is one of Jamaica's most precious national
treasures. Affectionately called "Miss Lou" .she is regarded as The
First Lady of Comedy. Through wit, humour and her own inimitable style
she has elevated Jamaican patios to a fine art
The polyglot of languages we call patois or creole is reflective of our
racial origins and eloquently illustrates Jamaica's motto "Out of many
one people". Miss Lou has made Jamaicans proud of patois and helped
them to realise that this unique dialect is part of their cultural
heritage.
Louise Bennett was born in Kingston in 1919. She is the daughter of the
late Augustus Cornelius Bennett (businessman) and his wife Kerene (nee
Robinson). She
was educated at Calabar Elementary School, Ebenezer Primary, St.
Simon's College (1933-36) and Excelsior High School (1936-38).
The young Louise always had an irrepresible sense of humour and a flair
for dramatics. She describes herself as "an average student". But she
was always the first to volunteer for a place in the line up for school
concerts.
On Christmas morning 1936 Louise made her first real public appearance
when she performed at the annual concert at the Coke Methodist Church.
She was then 17 years old. She recited a poem she had written in
Jamaican dialect and received a prize of one guinea ;($2.10) from MC
Eric Coverley, who would later become her husband.
When Louise Bennett began writing and reciting her dialect poems in the
late 1930's and early 1940's she was regarded as an embarrassment.
Speaking dialect was felt to be socially unacceptable and only the poor
and illiterate spoke patois. The British (Oxford) accent was regarded
as the epitome of cultured speech.
At Excelsior High School even some of the teachers did not see the
value of Louise Bennett's poetry. But she was encouraged by persons
such as W.A. Powell, Hugh Sherlock and the late Astley Clarke. She
remained undaunted by the sometimes hostile attitude toward dialect.
She insisted on presenting a dialect poetry which reflected the
lifestyle, philosophy and sense of humour of the Jamaican people.
Literary critic and radio announcer Archie Lindo read one of her poems
on Jamaica's first radio station, ZQI (now Radio Jamaica). The late
Horace Myers heard the broadcast and asked Lindo to arrange a meeting
with Louise Bennett. She was asked to perform at a dinner party hosted
by Myers.
The Daily Gleaner had previously refused to publish her poems but
Michael deCordova heard her at the party and asked her to submit poems
for publication in the newspaper. A regular Sunday column evolved for
which she was paid ten shillings and six pence ($1.05). The column
proved to be a hugh success and Louise Bennett received letters from
people all over Jamaica. Many persons began reading and performing her
poems.
In 1945 Louise Bennett was awarded a British Council scholarship to the
Royal Academy in England. Between 1945-46 she was attached to the
British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). She hosted two radio programmes
"Caribbean Carnival" and "West Indian Night".
On her return to Jamaica in 1956 she was appointed Drama Officer with
the Jamaica Social Welfare Commission and between 1959-63 served as
Director of that organisation.
Miss Lou appeared in her first Jamaican pantomime in 1943 playing
opposite the late Ranny Williams. The two were to become a much-loved
duo in Jamaican theatre.
For a time many persons including critics were baffled as to what genre
Miss Lou's writings belonged. The "Independence Anthology of Jamaican
Literature" published in 1962 had a poem of hers which was placed
alongside an Anancy story under the Miscellaneous section.
Miss Lou's writings have now been accepted as poetry. She now has
several publications to her credit. Jamaica humour in dialect was
published in 1943; Anancy stories and dialect verse in 1950. Jamaica
Labrish in 1966 was an instant bestseller and the book had its second
impression in 1972.
Miss Lou also has several sound recordings. "Anancy stories", "Listen
to Louise", and "Miss Lou's views" were produced by Federal Record
Manufacturing Company. The programme "Miss Lou's views" was also
broadcast by Radio Jamaica. In it Miss Lou used her Auntie Roachie
stories to project her views of Jamaicans. The long playing record "The
Honourable Miss Lou" was produced by Dynamic Sounds in 1981 and the
live recording "Yes mi dear" done by Amani in 1982.
Miss Lou's poetry, wit and humour have always appealed to children. The
popular JBC-TV programme for children Ring Ding was created by her and
aired between 1970-82. The programme which had children in the studio
audience, encouraged the youngsters to sing, dance and recite poetry.
They were rewarded with a round of applause to Miss Lou's enthusiastic
command to "Clap dem!"
Louise Bennett has extensively researched Jamaican folklore and has
lectured at the University of the West Indies Extra Mutual Centre. She
has presented Jamaica at a number of music and folklore festivals and
seminars in the USA, UK, Canada and the Caribbean.
In June 1983 she was invited by the Centre for African and Afro
American Studies of Atlanta, USA to tour Senegal and Zambia. She has
appeared in several motion pictures filmed in Jamaica, the most recent
being "Club Paradise" in 1986.
Louise Bennett has received numerous awards both in Jamaica and abroad.
In 1960 she was made a Member of the British Empire (MBE) for work in
Jamaican literature and theatre. In 1974 the Government of Jamaica
honoured her with the insignia of Order of Jamaica.
She has been awarded the Norman Manley Award for Excellence in the
field of the Arts; the Institute of Jamaica's Gold Musgrave Medal and
the Honorary degree of Doctor of Letters by the UWI in 1982.
In 1986 she was honoured at a special function in Canada. The Jamaica
American Caribbean Quarterly Magazine gave her a plaque for Outstanding
Creativity in the Performing Arts. That same year the Senior Citizens
of Jamaica in Cleveland, Ohio, USA also showed their appreciation with
the presentation of a plaque.
In 1986 Louise Bennett celebrated 50 years in Jamaican theatre. At a
special anniversary service in August 1987 tributes came from many and
Louise Bennett's own appreciation was summed up in two words "Tenk
God".
The anniversary celebrations took place between 1986-87 and in 1987 the
National Library of Jamaica mounted a special exhibition in honour of
the anniversary. In that year she was also selected as one of 10
outstanding persons to be honoured at a special luncheon. The function,
which took place at the Florida International University in Miami, paid
tribute to Outstanding Black Cultural Spokespersons.
In recognition of her contribution the City of Kingston handed her the
Keys of the City at a civic reception at the Ward Theatre in 1987.
The Louise Bennett Garden Theatre was opened in the 1970's and to
commemorate the 50th anniversary the theatre was refurbished in 1987 at
a cost of $10,000. It has seating for 1,000 and was built for the
staging of children's production, band concerts and family concerts.
In March 1988 Miss Lou was honoured at the Second Annual Caribbean
American Awards of Excellence in Miami.
Louise Bennett's poems have a timelessness and have always remained
fresh and relevant, even 20-30 years after they were written. She has
now been accepted as a poet in her own right. She has succeeded in her
mission to have folklore recognised as a valid and integral part of
Jamaican culture. Through her tenacity patois has now been legitimized.
On May 30, 1954 Louise Bennett married Eric Coverley. They have one
adopted daughter but have fostered almost 17 children now scattered in
different parts of the world but who regard them with affection and
gratitude.
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