Wordsworth Albert MacAndrew is among those I refer to as a “Guy-anist,” one who exemplifies to a high degree love of country and all its people without any exemptions or reservations.
I first met Wordsworth in the middle 1950s through an introduction by Norma Persaud a fellow civil servant and member of the Working People’s Art Class. His conversational style was punctuated with humour and searching questions demanding logical answers. In manner he reminded me of a trial lawyer, or more aptly a loyal follower of the Socratic method – dialogue leading through logic to satisfactory answers for all concerned. His insistence on clear thinking and precise use of words refused to accept any distinction between standard english and creolese. In this respect he reminded me much of Martin Carter. Wordsworth was indeed aptly named and I used to wonder if his Dad was indeed a ‘see-far man.’ Mac or ‘Scouter’ as he was familiarly called, was the only person I knew who at home during conversations would delve into a huge Oxford dictionary to settle differences of interpretation of a word or statement – a practice that put paid to many a convoluted argument that threatened to be never ending.
