Kudos to UTT for honouring Kitch

THE EDITOR: The thinker(s) at the University of Trinidad and Tobago (UTT) ought to be congratulated for correcting one of the great tragedies of calypso, the non-award of a significant honour in his lifetime to Kitchener (Aldwyn Roberts), a calypso icon. The conferring of the honorary doctorate of arts posthumously to one of our great sons, Kitchie, will go a long way in appeasing his fans locally, regionally and internationally, who feel that the bard has been largely ignored by previous governments.

Kitchie, from Arima, had a distinguished career that spanned over 50 years of solid calypso hits on every topic under the sun.

It is a well-known fact the old Kitchie felt he had done enough and deserved the Trinity Cross,for his awesome calypso contribution It was unfortunate he got into a verbal tangle with the Government in 1993, arising out of a petition to upgrade the bard’s 1969 Humming Bird (Silver) Medal.The government of the day didn’t feel the same way and offered a medal of lesser pedigree. A stubborn Kitchie refused, There were mixed feelings about the controversy.

However, at last, the honour from UTT will be well appreciated by his fans and my good self, a Kitchie fan.

On another note,the UTT must also be congratulated on its pan music programme, which elevates our native genius and spirit.Two men they could look at next year are calypso icon Shadow (Winston Bailey) and one of the most unheralded panmen extraordinaire, Earl “Barney” Rodney of Solo Harmonites fame.

Keith Anderson via e-mail