Joan Williams, former local host, looks back to go forward

(This is a reproduction of the article appearing on the front cover of the hard copy of "Bookends" on Sunday 18th November 2017. Bookends which is the book review section of the Jamaica Observer, is edited by Sharon Leach.)

Jamaica had its share of activists during the 1970s. Several of them have written about their experiences in that heady period of political tribalism.

Add Joan Williams to the mix.

On October 21, Williams launched her memoir, Looking Back.. ...the Struggle to Preserve Our Freedoms, in Pembroke Pines, Florida.

She told the Jamaica Obsever that she was influenced to revisit her firebrand years of the 1970s, after years of observing "apologists" for the Michael Manley government revising history.

"Reading so many versions written by those who were behind the Socialist thrust and seeing how they try to sanitise what really took place, I had to record my own experiences for I have never found anything that told the other side of the story," she said.

 'Looking Back' focuses mainly on the Seventies, a divisive decade that saw then prime minister Manley experimenting with democratic socialism. He was fiercely opposed by the right-leaning Edward Seaga, head of then main Opposition Jamaica Labour Party.

Williams, her husband and infant son returned to Jamaica from Canada shortly after Manley was elected prime minister in 1972. They were drawn to his passionate campaign of change for working-class Jamaicans and were members of the PNP at one stage. 

They switched allegiance to the JLP in 1974 when Manley declared democratic socialism as his government's mantra. Williams, like many Manley critics, details some of the period's tragic incidents such as the 1976 State of Emergency and Green Bay affair of 1978.

She lays blame for these and other atrocities at Manley’s feet.

The JLP also comes in for criticism, particularly Seaga whom she blames for alienating some of the party's most talented members because of his autocratic leadership.

"I am driven by a 'Jamaica first' attitude, so if I see a party acting contrary to what I consider to be the best interest of the country, I take immediate exception" said Williams. She notes that the PNP and JLP "have failed Jamaica miserably".

The book, her fourth, is not all politics. A chapter revisits the death of her son Thor in 1995. He was visiting Jamaica from the United States when he was shot and killed in St Andrew.

Twenty-two years later, Williams is still affected by the incident, especially as initial media reports about the incident said Thor was shot after attempting to rob someone.

"It was very tough to write about my son's murder. He was the first of my two children and my only son, and after 22 years the pain and bitterness remain as severe as it did in 1995," she said.

Separate chapters are dedicated to persons Williams respected; talk show hosts Anthony Abrahams and Wilmot 'Motty' Perkins.

She recalls the early days of groundbreaking radio show, The Breakfast Club, which she started with Abrahams, who died in 2011.

There is a revealing recollection of the fiery Perkins' battle with cancer, to which he succumbed one year after Abrahams's death.

'Motty Perkins was number one; he was never intimidated by anyone. Tony Abrahams was another. He was absolutely brilliant and I salute him most for revolutionising morning radio," she said.

Williams believes that, had Manley retained power for a third term in 1980, Jamaica today would resemble two of its regional neighbours.

"l used to look back and regret my days of activism and the sacrifices I had to make, but after I travelled to Cuba in 2014 to meet relatives, and saw how browbeaten and disillusioned the people there were, I regret nothing for I could never have survived in the type of society the socialists were trying to impose on us during the Seventies," she said. "Every day, I hear the news coming out of Venezuela which mirrors the madness we went through in the Seventies. I thank God we escaped what would have been a fate worse than death."

— Howard Campbell

Nb. Looking Back is available in paperback and ebook format at;
https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=a9_sc_1?rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3Alooking+back+by+joan+williams&keywords=looking+back+by+joan+williams&ie=UTF8&qid=1513357246

https://youtu.be/LvUJXyiJKKM

Essay 5; The greatest inventions

Recently, as I once again searched in frustration for my misplaced reading glasses, it occurred to me that this tiny, innocuous object has got to be among the top five inventions of all times for I just have not been able to read anything but the largest prints without it for decades. And most people I know who have passed  age forty, have a similar difficulty.

Ok,  maybe not reading glasses specifically I argued to myself, but at least the magnifying glass has to be one of the greatest inventions for it must have been from that that reading glasses eventually evolved. After all, if older inventors couldn't magnify anything, would there have been such wonderful, useful and earth shattering inventions over the years?

So as soon as I found the illusive object and was able to read again, I decided to immediately research the top ten inventions to confirm my suspicions, using good old google of course.

But the results of my research were a bit disappointing to say the least for the first answer to pop up when I googled top ten inventions, was from an organization called "Thought Company."  They listed ; wheel, nail, compass, printing press, internal combustion engine, phone, light bulb, penicillin, contraceptive, internet.  I wasn't overly impressed with their list, because for example,  is the nail really more important than the magnifying glass? Anyway wouldn't the television a spill off from the camera anyway?

Disappointed I quickly checked the next site,  this time  "Stuff of Genius." They listed what they said were the 10 Inventions  that changed the world as; internet, computer, light bulb, automobile, steam engine, communications, refrigeration, printing press, wheel, plow.

Dissatisfied, I checked a few other pages and was absolutely astounded that despite them all listing necessary and revolutionary products, and a site called  "IB Times out of the UK"  even  listing the paper, none listed the magnifying glass among the top ten. This caused me to wonder how effective printing and paper would  have been if only mainly people under 40 years old would have been able to read what was being printed?.

For I had always heard that one's eyesight generally starts to deteriorate at around age 40 although a baby can be born with poor eyesight. So I decided to check if this was really an old wives tale for maybe that was why everyone was overlooking the importance of magnifying glasses. So turned to the American Academy of  Ophthalmology for guidance. But they confirmed the popular lore for this quote in bold letters jumped right out. "Around age 40 many people start to notice changes in their eyesight that increase as they get older."

OK,  so when was the magnifying glass invented I wondered, or to put it simply, when did people start to enjoy a respite from this over 40 tribulation? For remember it is said the Sumerians invented writing from some 5000 years ago?

The more I thought about the issue, the more fascinated I became and determined to prove that those making lists of top ten greatest inventions, were shortsighted as they were overlooking a critical element in human development. This time turned to good old reliable Wikipedia.

The findings were very interesting as they revealed that the Assyrians, Egyptians and Babylonians used gems, polished crystal to be specific magnify objects from as far back as 700 bc. This practice seemed to have lasted for some time and was adopted elsewhere as Roman Emperor Nero who ruled from  54 - 68 AD, even had an improvement done for it is recorded that he was seen using a monocle made from a polished emerald.

However, it appears people like the Roman author and philosopher, Pliny the Elder, (who lived between AD 23-79) was not as privileged  for Seneca, an attorney, statesman, humorist, teacher wrote of Pliny that he used a globe filled with water, which he said;  "... could be used to read letters no matter how small or dim."


Curious about this, although I didn't have a globe, I tried it with an ordinary drinking glass filled with water and ta da, it did indeed magnify the print I used. But that must have been clumsy to use I surmised so continued to look for information about the development of the magnify glass as we know it today for I was convinced it must  have been the fore runner to eye glasses.

I finally got somewhere for I did eventually read that it was indeed invented in 1250 by Roger Bacon, who was a lecturer an Oxford University in England. After that, things started to move as circa 1290  the Italians were credited with inventing the actual eyeglass. and according to Wikipedia, in a sermon in 1306, a Dominican friar wrote "It is not yet twenty years since there was found the art of making eyeglasses, which make for good vision. And it is so short a time that this new art, never before extant, was discovered. ... I saw the one who first discovered and practiced it, and I talked to him." 

However Wikipedia did have a caveat to that claim, saying that it has been recorded  elsewhere that in 1021, an unnamed Arab scholar did make some reference to the use of lens in his part of the world.

It seems therefore that there is no certainty on this matter, but in my book I am sure that I speak for the millions or people who like to read, write, invent and manufacture things that eyeglasses  should indeed be listed among the top five greatest inventions of all time. 

What do you think?

Maybe I should start a petition to have this humble object elevated  and given the respect it deserves..