Barbadians and other invited guests, yesterday, said goodbye to the late Professor George Lamming – a local, regional and internationally renowned author whose creative imagination has helped to shape the consciousness of his followers.
President the Most Honourable Dame Sandra Mason and Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley headed the list of attendees at the memorial service under the theme: A Tribute to the Man and His Work at the Frank Collymore Hall yesterday.
Ms. Mottley, in her reflection on the essayist and novelist’s wide repertoire of works, insisted that the country must appropriately honour its literary giants as a lasting memento for the powerful words that have unified the nation by the stroke of their pens.
In this vein, she mentioned Professor Lamming, the late Edward “Kamau” Brathwaite and Austin “Tom” Clarke as examples of the talented writers which this country has produced.
“…I could go on and refer to others [ in the literary arts] that are living… but we must come to appreciate that our determination to salute them is not about ‘big man or big woman’ but it is about sustaining the worthiness and honour of their message. I pray we come together as a nation to do so, as gracefully and graciously as befits the man,” Ms. Mottley told her audience.
The Prime Minister expressed the hope that Lamming’s spirit would “imbue in all Barbadians the sense of courage, compassion and commitment which he possessed adding.
The service was punctured with tributes from academia, daughter Dr. Natasha Lamming-Lee, grandson Johann Lee and musical tributes from Shanika Roach, Arturo Tappin, Shadia Marshall, The Most Honourable Anthony Carter and the students of the George Lamming Primary School – named in his honour,
Professor Lamming was laid to rest on Thursday, following a private burial at his request.