Rachel Manley attends Fortis Friday Social Evening
By Franklin Tenn
Toronto Chapter President Lance Seymour and Rachel Manley
R
achel Manley, former Kingston College teacher and daughter of late Prime Minister Michael Manley of Jamaica and well-known author, was the special guest at the K.C.Old Boys (Toronto) Fortis Friday Social Evening held at the Delta Hotel on Dixie Road on Friday evening, July 24th, 2009.
Rachel, who lives in Toronto, read two excerpts from her writings for about 30 minutes, one a piece about her time attending a Girls only High School in Jamaica and the other a memoir of a trip to England as a 7 yr old in 1954 when she accompanied her Grandfather and National Hero,the Rt.Hon Norman Manley, ex Prime Minister of Jamaica, on Government business to the
United Kingdom.
The first reading was quite humorous and touched on incidents when her Dad, Michael, drove her to school and many of her fellow students were waiting to greet him, some often swooning as he drove into the school compound.The second excerpt was a recollection of her trip with her grandfather and mentioned incidents of that visit when he had discussions with the British Government to expand Jamaica's autonomy in managing its own affairs prior to Independence in 1962.
She also spoke about the huge crowd of PNP supporters at the Palisadoes Airport(now called the Norman Manley International airport) on their return which was in the midst of a General Election campaign when the symbols of the PNP, a broom to sweep out the ruling JLP representatives and the JLP's own symbol, a bell to signify it was time to vote for them again. This reading was full of humour and timely anecdotes to remind us of a most important period in Jamaica's political history when the two stalwarts, Norman Manley and Sir Alexander Bustamante dominated the political arena.
Following the readings the gathering enjoyed a relaxed evening of refreshments and mingling, greeting old friends and meeting Rachel as she signed newly bought books for guests and gave us individually more stories of her experiences, writings and the Manley family. One of these tidbits is very interesting since it informs us that the ex Liberal Cabinet Minister John Manley of Ottawa and Norman Manley are related. Sometime in the 1870s two brothers of a Yorkshire family migrated overseas, one to Ottawa (hence John Manley) and the other to Jamaica from who Norman Manley is descended.
Eventually the gathering came to an end after a very pleasant and enjoyable evening, a fitting end to another K.C. Old Boys Fortis Friday function.
