Dear Editor,
After reading Godfrey Chin’s ‘Tribute to the Metropole,’ Sunday Stabroek Dec 19, the only thing that immediately came to mind was the song by Michael Jackson Bad, and indeed he truly is; there can be no other description, just plain and simple, ‘Bad.’
Editor, there are individuals amongst us – and always will be – who are especially remarkable, whose works and service are delightful, playing a stimulating and balancing role, adding substance, depth and some respite to our sometimes creepy lives. This is especially so for those of us who live on the edge, subjected daily to doing battle with the wretchedness that abounds, the covert and overt deception, the meaningless jargon and claptrap preached from above by rogue top functionaries living in fine style. But we pay very little attention (sometimes none whatsoever) to these rare amazing talented folks whose works, like a balm have time and again helped to revive us, cutting away the gloom and the doom cloaking and choking us dread. We seldom for a moment stop to think about them and how they do what they do – we so often take things for granted. Two such persons – there are indeed many more –who in my judgment fit into this category and are deserving of every praise, accolade, laurel, etc, are the ‘Nostalgia man’ Godfrey Chin and cartoonist Paul Harris. What Chin does is fantastic, considering the stack of information he has compiled over the years. How he has been able to capture the essence of almost every aspect of our culture in such graphic life-size form is in itself an accomplishment; the snippets and anecdotes are backed up with astonishing historical pictures of incalculable value.
Reading stories of yesteryear keep you on the edge of your seat, and as you read your mind is racing ahead with eager anticipation, like an action movie. You are glad to be so informed or reminded as the case may be, by means of a truly nostalgic lesson that you can identify with. It is so good that he has our folklore, our priceless cultural history all recorded and is still doing so; the anxiety is always who will continue in like manner to chronicle our rich, unique culture in all its aspects and nuances and in such meticulous detail when he’s gone. His television presentation ‘Christmas like we used to know it,’ was a delightfully wonderful treat, and so too was the radio programme on Boxing Day which was put together and narrated by himself and two other voices. Their elephantine recollection of Christmas of yore was entertaining and they missed not a beat; in your mind’s eye you could have seen it all, and they remembered every iota of what went on, and that was pure class.
Chin and Harris the cartoonist for me are members of a special breed of people who possess sharp, incisive, penetrating minds and imaginations to see beneath and beyond. They can connect the past to the present and transport you into the future. Harris is richly endowed so he can scratch almost anything into an amazingly, intelligible shape. His wit, fertile imagination and masterful artistry make him the cartoonist par excellence. It is unquestionable that these drawings have become a vital ingredient, arresting, amusing and sustaining Stabroek News enthusiasts. I once attempted in a small way to pay tribute to the late Hawley Harris.
I’m not that brazen to think I could have truly done him full honour; he was too much of a heavyweight, but I was sincere and just wanted to say a good word. When he died, 1 thought that we all would have missed him greatly – sharp mind, superb wit and amusing caricatures, but heck no! I was wrong, we haven’t. He is very much with us and better still; Hawley Harris lives and performs his master craft through Paul Harris, the rightful heir and torch-bearer in this fine art form, taking care of business in grand style. I do not think there is anyone who can say that he/she has detected a change in some degree in the quality and provocative drawings between the late Hawley Harris and his successor/son Paul Harris. Sometimes one (cartoon) is instantly grasped, yet for another, one must search through it to figure it out, but which itself is the essence and joy of piecing a puzzle together to behold a beautiful painting or a wonderfully ugly sight. The Sunday Stabroek, particularly has been richer for producing the contributions of the Harris’s through the years. I do not know of anyone who reads the Sunday Stabroek who has not looked at the cartoons of Paul Harris; it’s almost impossible to ignore them.
And I also need to mention that his comic strip ‘Politikles’ is much looked forward to as a daily teaspoon tickle that captures everyday follies, governmental/political failings, crassness and vulgarity or just the plain damn ‘stupidness’ that is now the order of the day. I submit that these two men are ‘Bad.’ No matter how talented one is these things call for much thought, concentration and dedication, are mentally taxing and must be assiduously given attention in order to hone skills. No slipshod work can ever produce the high quality results that is the hallmark of these two distinguished men.
Lastly Editor, I would be failing and unfair if I do not commend and say a loud thank you to Mr A A Fenty for his ‘Creole Christmas’ breakfast that was offered up for the festive season in the mornings, and was a perfect build-up and primer leading into Christmas. Fenty has been at this for quite some time and is now a past master at folklore, whence he resurrects or creates these funny stories. This can only be to his credit, and was for the radio audience a delectable serving which did beef up the spirit of season.
Yours faithfully,
Frank Fyffe
