Author, physicist, educator and former ambassador Edward Ricardo Braithwaite, best known for his book, ‘To Sir With Love,’ passed away on Monday at age 104, according to the Associated Press (AP).
AP reported that Braithwaite’s companion, Ginette Ast, divulged that he had taken ill on Monday and died at the Adventist HealthCare Shady Grove Medical Center in Rockville, Maryland.
‘To Sir, With Love,’ his first and most famous book, was published in 1959. The autobiographical tale about how a West Indian who scolded, encouraged and befriended a rowdy, mostly white class of East End teens was a success and transformed into a film. Sydney Poitier played Braithwaite, renamed Thackeray in the 1967 release, and the pop star Lulu was featured as one of the students. The title song, performed on screen and on record by Lulu, became a No. 1 hit, AP said.
