Dear Editor,
I was pleased to read in another section of the press that the Government of Guyana intends to honour Ms. Valerie Rodway on the centenary of her birth. I think a postage stamp with her image is a fitting tribute to her contribution as a teacher and musician.
I have written to that media outlet and now to you to correct history. As the daughter of Vere T Daly, Guyanese Historian (A Short History of the Guyanese People and the Making of Guyana), Author and Writer of the ‘Hymn for Guyana’s Children’ I believe it is my duty to my father, my family and to posterity to correct the misconception given on the website of the Ministry of the Presidency and published in that newspaper that Ms. Rodway penned the words to the song ‘Hymn for Guyana’s Children.’
In a similar way that she set Martin Carter’s poem to music, Ms Rodway wrote the music score for ‘Hymn for Guyana’s Children.’ Attributing the words of the song to her therefore, would be diminishing my father’s legacy.
I have written to the Ministry of the Presidency, asking for the correction to be made on its website from which I believe much of the information on Ms. Rodway’s tribute has been disseminated. I write to sensitize you now as a member of the Fourth Estate, with responsibility for educating the Guyanese people through the publication of both current and historical facts.
Yours faithfully,
Olney Daly
