By Kemoy McEkron KINGSTON, Jamaica, CMC – With this week’s death of Louise Bennett-Coverly the Caribbean lost another of its cultural stalwarts and pioneers.
A true cultural giant, Miss Lou, as she was affectionately called, died on Wednesday in a Canadian hospital. She was 86.
She was Jamaica’s premier folklorist, poet, entertainer and comedienne. But it was through her poems in Jamaican patois that she raised the Jamaican dialect to levels acceptance and appreciation in the land of her birth.
It is widely accepted that in her poems she was able to capture all the spontaneity of the expression of joys and sorrows of the Jamaican people, their poignant reflections, their religion and the philosophy of their lives.
Born in Kingston on September 7, 1919, Miss Lou took to writing poems in the Jamaican dialect from an early age, penning her first piece when she was only 14 years old. She went on to produce several books of poetry, including ‘Jamaica Labrish’ in 1966 and ‘Anancy and Miss Lou’ in 1979.
But it was her famous radio shows which included ‘Laugh with Louise’; Miss Lou’s Views; and the most popular ‘The Lou and Ranny Show’ which propelled her celebrity status in her native island. She was also widely celebrated especially among the youth for her television show ‘Ring Ding’ in the 1970s.
Her works which were often also recorded along with folk and mento music includes: Jamaica Folksongs-Folkways 1953; Jamaica Singing Games, 1953; Miss Lou’s Views, 1967; Listen to Louise, 1968; Carifesta Ring Ding, 1976; The Honorable Miss Lou, 1981; and Miss Lou Live, London, 1983.
She received her early education from Ebenezer and Calabar Elementary Schools, St. Simon’s College, Excelsior College and Friends College (Highgate). But it was a British Council Scholarship that she received in the late 1940s that took her to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in England.
After graduation she worked with repertory companies in Coventry, Huddersfield and Amersham and other places in England.
On her return to Jamaica she taught drama to youth and adult groups both in social welfare agencies and for the University of the West Indies Extra Mural Department. She also lectured extensively in the United States and the United Kingdom on the Jamaican folklore and music.
Her contribution to Jamaican cultural life has been such that she was honoured with several awards including the Norman Manley Award for Excellence in the field of Arts, the Order of Jamaica in 1974, the Institute of Jamaica’s Musgrave Silver and Gold Medals for distinguished eminence in the field of Arts and Culture, and in 1983 the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Letters from the University of the West Indies.
In September 1988 her composition “You’re going home now”, won a nomination from the Academy of Canadian Cinema a Television, for the best original song in the movie “Milk and Honey”.
She also received the Honorary Degree of Doctors of Letters from York University in Canada. The Jamaican government in 2001 also appointed her Cultural Ambassador at Large and as a Member of the Order of Merit for her distinguished contribution to the development of the arts and culture.
Miss Lou, who lived in Canada, last visited Jamaica in 2003, where she was a special guest of the government for Emancipation and Independence celebrations.
In her tribute this week, Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller said Miss Lou was “a true example of the finest quality of Jamaican womanhood, a strong, courageous defender of the true Jamaican culture”.
Louise Bennett Coverly who was predeceased by her late husband Eric Coverly, is survived by son Fabian.