The Hon Louise Bennett-Coverley OM OJ MBE. Dip RADA, D Litt (Hon) - Rest in Peace

MarcusGarveyLives · (#1 (**permalink**))

[align=center]The Hon Louise Bennett-Coverley OM OJ MBE. Dip RADA, D Litt (Hon)[/align]

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[align=center]7 September 1919 - 26 July 2006[/align]

[align=center]Rest In Peace - May The Creator Be Pleased With Your Work [/align]
Please email the Prime Minister of Jamaica, The Most Hon Mrs Portia Simpson Miller ON MP, now and demand that Miss Lou is immediately declared as Jamaica's 8th National Hero:

hpm@opm.gov.jm

[align=center]Miss Lou for National Hero![/align]

Mokele Mbembe · (#2 (**permalink**))

Could you tell me a bit about her?

FredB · (#3 (**permalink**))

@DM she was an expert on Jamaican folklore and its African influences. A teacher and broadcaster and did a great deal for popularising discussion and education and pride in African-Jamaican culture and things like its oral traditions and morality.

Very heavy elder sister. Extremely funning and warm...Last time I saw her was about ten years ago..She use to sing traditional songs and break them down analytically to explain to the audience what particular things mean and their origins and stuff.

RIP MISS LOU....

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Mokele Mbembe · (#4 (**permalink**))

http://www.jis.gov.jm/special_sectio...ouProfile.html

Thanks Fredb also found that useful

Madam Butterfly · (#5 (**permalink**))

So sorry to hear she has died. Years ago my mum bought me one of her books "Jamaica Labrish" a collection of humourous poems written in patois. Still got it. (The picture in MGL's post is on the cover)

Prince Hakeem · (#6 (**permalink**))

Damn, she used to make me buss up back in the day. My grandmother had met her back in the early 1970s and was also a fan.

RIP

Kunjufu · (#7 (**permalink**))

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[align=center]Profile of 'Miss Lou'
Jamaica's First Lady of Comedy
The Hon. Louise Bennett-Coverley O.M. O.J. M.B.E. Dip R.A.D.A., D. Litt (Hon)[/align]

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[align=left]Louise Bennett was born on September 7, 1919. She was a Jamaican poet and activist. From Kingston, Jamaica Louise Bennett remains a household name in Jamaica, a "Living Legend" and a cultural icon. She received her education from Ebenezer and Calabar Elementary Schools, St. Simonâ€™s College, Excelsior College, Friends College (Highgate).

Although she lived in Toronto, Canada for the last decade she still receives the homage of the expatriate West Indian community in the north as well as a large Canadian following.

She was described as Jamaica's leading comedienne, as the "only poet who has really hit the truth about her society through its own language", and as an important contributor to her country of "valid social documents reflecting the way Jamaicans think and feel and liveâ€? Through her poems in Jamaican patois, she raised the dialect of the Jamaican folk to an art level which is acceptable to and appreciated by all in Jamaica.

In her poems she was able to capture all the spontaneity of the expression of Jamaicans' joys and sorrows, their ready, poignant and even wicked wit, their religion and their philosophy of life. Her first dialect poem was written when she was fourteen years old. A British Council Scholarship took her to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art where she studied in the late 1940â€™s.

Bennett not only had a scholarship to attend the academy but she auditioned and won a scholarship. After graduation she worked with repertory companies in Coventry, Huddersfield and Amersham as well as in intimate revues all over England. [/align]
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On her return to Jamaica she taught drama to youth and adult groups both in social welfare agencies and for the University of the West Indies Extra Mural Department.

She lectured extensively in the United States and the United Kingdom on Jamaican folklore and music and represented Jamaica all over the world. She married Eric Winston Coverley in 1954 (who died in 2002) and has one stepson and several adopted children. She enjoys Theatre, Movies and Auction sales.

Her contribution to Jamaican cultural life was such that she was honored with the M.B.E., the Norman Manley Award for Excellence (in the field of Arts), the Order of Jamaica (1974) the Institute of Jamaica's Musgrave Silver and Gold Medals for distinguished eminence in the field of Arts and Culture, and in 1983 the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Letters from the University of the West Indies. In September 1988 her composition "You're going home now", won a nomination from the Academy of Canadian Cinema ad Television, for the best original song in the movie "Milk and Honey."

In 1998 she received the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Letters from York University, Toronto, Canada. The Jamaica Government also appointed her Cultural Ambassador at Large for Jamaica. On Jamaicaâ€™s independence day 2001, Bennett-Coverley was appointed as a Member of the Order of Merit for her distinguished contribution to the development of the Arts and Culture.[/align][/align]

Kunjufu · (#8 (**permalink**))

My contribution to the campaign as sent today..

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Sirs

It was with great sadness that I learnt today of the passing of Louise Bennett-Coverly. For me she represented all that is best about Jamaica like our other heroes, Bustamante, Manley, Nanny & Garvey etcâ€¦ she epitomises the true sprite of Jamaica

Like many I grew up with the wit, guile and intelligence of Louise Bennett, that she often expressed via her own styles of Jamaican poetry, she demostratedhow it was possible to use our cultural experience to express our feelings and thoughts positively.In a time, and in a foreign land where the Jamaican dialect was often disparaged, demonised and relegated to that of a non language.

Mrs Bennettâ€™s intelligence, pride in her people and her culture was the one of the few positive influences during the last difficult century, that was a consistent beacon of Jamaican pride that stood out in my youth. I suspect she touch and influenced many others like myself without ever realising it, her infectious laugh and her use of Jamaican dialect to voice her opinions for me demonstrated Jamaica at its best.

It is for this reason, for her originality, her strength of character and her influence in and outside of Jamaica, that I join my name to the campaign to have this great person recognised as a National heroine of Jamaica.

Regards

(real name, qualifications and details supplied).

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FredB · (#9 (**permalink**))

@Kunjufu and all going to join you in sending a letter requesting Miss Lou isnationally honoured in Jamaica...

Will knock up a draft later..

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MarcusGarveyLives · (#10 (**permalink**))

To send condolences to the family please send emails to regrets@louisebennett.com

Kunjufu · (#11 (**permalink**))

Homecoming - Bodies of 'Miss Lou' and Eric arrive
published: Sunday | August 6, 2006

Robert Lalah, Staff Reporter

Policemen comprising the bearer party carry the bodies of Louise 'Miss Lou' Bennett-Coverley and husband Eric Coverley, on their arrival from Toronto, Canada on an Air Jamaica flight at the Norman Manley International Airport in Kingston, yesterday. - Norman Grindley/Deputy Chief Photographer

At exactly 4:20 p.m. yesterday, the bodies of the uncrowned cultural queen of Jamaica, Louise Bennett-Coverley and her husband Eric, arrived back home to Kingston, Jamaica.
The bodies of the beloved 'Miss Lou' and her husband were aboard an Air Jamaica flight from Canada where the two lived for several years before their deaths. The bodies were transported back to Jamaica to be buried at National Heroes Park in Kingston.

From about four o'clock, a small gathering of friends, government officials and well-wishers converged on the ramp at the airport, awaiting the arrival of the airplane transporting the bodies. When it arrived, the pilot opened his window and attached a small Jamaican flag to it that fluttered silently as members of the police force marched up to the plane.

The two black caskets containing the bodies were also draped in Jamaican flags. The members of the police force, dressed in official uniform, hoisted the caskets unto their shoulders and placed them into two black hearses parked nearby. The gathering gave a round of applause while this was happening. Several persons also snapped pictures of the caskets.
Miss Lou died at the Scarborough Grace Hospital in Toronto on July 26. She was 86. Eric Coverley passed away in 2002. His body, which was buried in Canada, was exhumed and will be reburied at National Heroes Park today at 4 p.m.

Louise Bennett-Coverley is to be accorded an official funeral at the Coke Methodist Church in Kingston at 2 p.m. on Wednesday. She will be buried beside her husband.
Famous for her radio shows, including Laugh with Louise, Miss Lou's Views and The Lou and Ranny Show with Ranny Williams, she was also celebrated for her 1970s children's television show Ring Ding.