Sister Mary Ignatius

When I arrived at my office on the morning of Friday, January 17, 2003, I was told to get in touch with Sister Ignatius at the Alpha Boys School. I promptly complied. After all, this was Sister Ignatius and I had been trying to get in touch with her and had been promised a meeting with her, through my friend Winston "Sparrow" Martin, musical director at the school.

I felt happy that Sparrow had delivered on his pledge and was eagerly entertaining thoughts of speaking with this remarkable nun. I did not reach her when I returned her call but was told that she would respond to me in a few minutes. She did.

The mother of modern Jamaican music was at the other end of the line and I was excited. Yet, Sister Ignatius had not called me at the behest of Sparrow Martin; she wanted me to locate a book for her. Though surprised at the request I considered it a privilege being able to do a favour for Sister Ignatius.

Her call had been prompted by an article I had written entitled Oh, Where is My Uncle Ossie (Jamaica Observer, January 17). The piece, dedicated to my late friend Ossie Clarke, presented Sister with what she saw as an opportunity to recover a book which she had lent to my late music-loving colleague. The book was based on the life of one of her protégés, Dr Leslie Thompson, who had gone abroad in the 1950s and distinguished himself.

I informed Sister then that I would be going abroad but on my return I would do everything possible to get the book. Returning the book would also provide me with the wonderful opportunity of speaking to this extraordinary nun.

I immediately contacted my friend Curtis Myrie who also had a close relationship with Ossie to assist in recovering he book. I called Winston "Merritone" Blake and told him about my conversation with Sister Ignatius; he was ecstatic that I was going to get a chance to speak to her. Blake felt strongly that Sister had not been given her due.

He noted that many whose contributions pale in comparison to hers, have been exalted while this great nun was largely unknown to many. I never got to speak to her; Sister Ignatius died last Sunday at the University Hospital of the West Indies.

Indirectly, I came under her influence at about age 11 through a group of musicians, her protégés, Cedric Brooks, Winston "Sparrow" Martin and Leslie Samuels. These men along with such figures as Joe Ruglass, Claude Thomas and the legendary Rafael Dillon (Count Mug) would assemble regularly at the home of my mentor Samah "Gussie" Reid.

Sister's name would pop up regularly and was spoken of in reverence among this group of mostly Rastafarian men. The hours spent among these well-informed and intellectually-engaging individuals provided the basis for my career choices.

Much of what I has done in the last 20 years has been music-related and influenced by those afternoons spent with men who looked up to Sister Ignatius.

The list of those who came under her direct influence at Alpha reads like the veritable Who's Who of Modern Jamaican music. Tommy McCook, Don Drummond and Johnny "Dizzy" Moore are just three of the persons associated with Sister. Up until her death, she paid a keen interest in the activities of the Alpha Boys Band, a cornerstone of Jamaican music; there can be no disputing her impact on our music.

She was passionately devoted to Alpha and her boys, and Jamaican music has been the better for it. Yet, Sister Ignatius is hardly known except in some circles, a function of her humility, perhaps? Well, some like Winston Blake do not agree. According to Blake, there should have been no need for Sister Ignatius to resort to the indignity of self-promotion, not with her achievements.

Why have successive governments not seen it fit to bestow a national honour on this woman? Not even an Order of Distinction (OD)? It makes me wonder, what does one have to do to secure this kind of recognition?

We live in a country that seems to decouple cause from effect and authors from their contribution. Such a society is bound to experience the kind of problems we do. Our citizens live in a world void of links between behaviour and its consequences.

It is to our eternal shame that Sister Ignatius did not receive a national honour in her lifetime. It is also a poor reflection on the state of our media, which is oftentimes caught up with hype more than substance. How many more like Sister Ignatius are there who have made monumental contributions but are largely ignored because they are not part of the cocktail circuit?

We need to start promoting people of substance like her in order send to the right signals about where we want our society to go. Our obsession with those who can manipulate the media through slick public relations will lead to our undoing.

EDITOR'S NOTE: The funeral service for Sister Mary Ignatius will be held today at the Holy Trinity Cathedral, North Street, at 10:00 am.

Battle royal at Heineken Green Synergy finals

University Players to bring 'Art' to local audiences

Club vs Station — Round one