A tribute to Selwyn Ryan

THE EDITOR: With the passing of Selwyn Ryan, TT and the region have lost an academic titan, a clear-eyed (and not infrequently controversial) observer and analyst of the sinuosities of Anglophone Caribbean society.

Selwyn was usually called a political scientist, and it is true that many of his publications – his books, his essays, his polls – focused on politics.

But he was more than that. He was also a sociologist examining the undercurrents and eddies of TT’s often bewilderingly complex make-up.

Sharks and Sardines, for instance, his 1992 publication with Lou Anne Barclay, dealt with blacks in business in TT (still a sensitive subject) and Social and Occupational Stratification in Contemporary Trinidad and Tobago, which he edited the previous year, expanded the foundational 1953 study by Prof Lloyd Braithwaite on Social Stratification in Trinidad.

However, it is his monumental biography of Dr Eric Williams – over 800 pages long! – for which he might be best remembered. It is a wonder of detailed research. To be sure, some of his assessments and conclusions have not attracted universal approval, but if you hear of anyone in this country who can please everyone, especially on a subject as multifaceted as Williams, let me know.

Selwyn and I first met in 1970, in Uganda.

He was a lecturer at Makerere University, I a peripatetic diplomat, on a leave of absence from the TT Foreign Service to an American foundation.

The following year we were to meet again, in TT this time, as members of the Wooding Constitution Commission. His views and mine on what might be the best constitutional arrangements for this country were not always in harmony, but there was never anything personal in our differences.

We remained friends for the next 50-odd years; I even launched one of his books. When last I saw him I realised that a decline had set in; subsequent telephone conversations only confirmed this.

I shall greatly miss his intellect and forthrightness, his lack of pomp, his willingness to assist and enlighten, his commitment to TT and the Caribbean. We are much the poorer for his departure.

My deepest condolences go to his family, who can take pride in his massive contribution to this country and to this region. I am confident he will rest in the peace he thoroughly deserves.

REGINALD DUMAS

Via e-mail