Friday, August 17 2012

Author and historian Michael Anthony will launch a new book on Wednesday (August 22) to pay tribute to Trinidad and Tobago’s golden anniversary of Independence.

Titled Builders of the Nation of Trinidad and Tobago, this is Michael Anthony’s 31st book, and the second one the prolific author has produced this year following Christopher Columbus – A Close Look at the Man and his Voyages launched in June.

Fifty “builders” have been chosen for this tribute. Anthony described them as, “50 people who have in their own way done something to build the nation, whether they fought for Independence in the Legislative Council or whether their fields of battle were the sporting arenas, or like the doctors Lennox Joseph Pawan and Ciprian Amoroso they did anything to chase disease away.”

He continued, “Many of them have made the way easier by their work in the field of politics, such as Dr Eric Williams, Dr Rudranath Capildeo and both the labour leaders Uriah Butler and Captain Andrew Cipriani; while others, like Audrey Jeffers in social welfare, Beryl McBurnie and Boscoe Holder in the dance, and Hasely Crawford as well as Ahamad Charles and Roger Gibbon for sport, have been pinpointed,” he said.

“But this is not to say there have not been many more than 50 builders of this nation,” Anthony added. “Also, it must not be thought that it was only when nationhood came that nation-builders appeared. It was the influences of people like Albert Gomes and Dr Williams, Winifred Atwell, Butler, CLR James, Lord Constantine and others that helped towards building up our people and preparing them for nationhood by giving them hope and even faith in a brighter day.

“Also important,” he said, “was the inspiration and pride we felt later on when figures like VS Naipaul and even the brilliant steelband boys came on the scene. Not to speak of our cricketers like Sonny Ramadhin and Brian Lara.”

From the colonial days to our golden jubilee of Independence the builders were many, Michael Anthony said. “These in this book are just a few of them. Fifty. And 50 is just to reflect the 50 years since that bright new day of August 31, 1962.”

Builders of the Nation of Trinidad and Tobago is published by Sage Corporate Communications and Publications, a division of Lonsdale Saatchi & Saatchi Advertising Ltd. It will be launched on Wednesday at 6 pm at the National Archives, 105 St Vincent Street, Port-of-Spain.