Hours after hearing about the death of this icon I waited for the right time to write, but right time evaded me, no pen, no ink, no table, no room, no time, no quiet, and no inclination. But then words came hurtling at me and “biting my truant pen, beating myself for spite fool said my muse to me, look at thine heart and write”.

Write of a giant of a man who walked, talked, slept with the ordinary people; dined with kings, queens, prime ministers, and other world leaders and still maintained the common touch.

These are some men in whose shadows others will forever stand. These men choose to embrace destiny; they do not wait on it to find them, while others sleep. These men stay awake and accomplish great feats.

These men’s lives exemplify their service to humanity. The Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) and, indeed, Jamaica was privileged to have such a man as Edward Phillip George Seaga.

An anonymous writer wrote, “When your life flashes before your eyes, make sure you have got plenty to watch. Seaga’s life consisted of so much to watch. His ability to serve human beings unselfishly was an indelible characteristic he possessed. This was embodied in his illustrious services in the different spheres of Jamaica. His contribution to good governance, notwithstanding, he has championed education through his invaluable service to HEART Trust/NTA.

He has truly enriched Jamaica’s cultural landscape with his founding of the Tivoli Dance Troupe and, not to mention, the Jamaica Cultural Development Commission (JCDC). I remember in 1964, in his zest and his quest and love for Jamaican music, he decided to send a team of musicians and dancers to the world’s fair in New York to sell ska to the world. I can remember he contacted my brother, Alphanso Castro, who is the original conceptualiser of the ska dance, and within three days my brother had his passport with his visa, airline ticket, and was off to New York with Byron Lee, Jimmy Cliff, Eric Monty Morris, Prince Buster, Miss World Carol Joan Crawford, Ronnie Nasralla, and Winston Stona. That was the mettle of the man.

His interest in Jamaica’s culture was second to none. He studied it, practised it, and he preached it in order to ensure that we, as a nation, grasped and appreciated culture. He started from the roots. He ensured that there were zones in every town which would form tributaries to the parish and then on the wider Jamaica.

I remember being inspired by him so much so that I became a member of the Kingston and St Andrew Parish Committee for the JCDC, chaired by Lola Parkinson, wife of the then speaker of the House. She was then the chairman for the Kingston and St Andrew Parish Festival Committee and, as a teenager, I became a member of Zone 6, and we used to meet on Retirement Road. As an adult Seaga played a very significant role in my personal life for which I will be forever grateful. He was very encouraging of young people; he understood the overexuberance of youth and decided to work with it.

The Kingston Western constituency has unselfishly shared him with Jamaica because they recognised that he possessed the energy and the capacity to serve. A chronicle of his journey with them will elucidate their claim of ownership of this illustrious man. Over 50 years he charted a course to serve west Kingston and his beloved island home Jamaica.

He served tirelessly for over 40 years with his leadership Kingston Western and became a force to be reckoned with in music, sports and culture.

His passion to develop West Kingston and Jamaica has been seen through the diligence with which he willingly immersed himself in this task. He believed that Jamaican was bigger than any one man. He embraced the concept that Jamaica should be built to foster the growth of education and prosperity of every Jamaican citizen. He was truly a visionary.

Barack Obama said, “Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.” Seaga epitomised the change Obama spoke about long before Obama spoke. He did not wait on some other person or some other time — he was the change. As an agent of change he was one of the people who framed the Jamaican Constitution.

Mahatma Ghandi said, “As human beings, our greatness lies not so much in being able to remake the world… as in being able to remake ourselves.”

Edward Seaga was gifted with the talent of remaking self. This was evident in the innumerable ways in which he served the people of Jamaica. A truly great man.

Values are the guiding principles in our lives that define who we are and how we behave. Edward Seaga taught his flock to have certain basic values as core principles in their lives — respect, integrity, humility, compassion, authenticity, and wisdom. These values woulds make great posters on the walls of every institution in which he has been involved. We bless the memory of this great leader.

As a leader he was a consensus-builder who would listen to the poor and dispossessed with empathy. These were excellent traits. These traits were balanced with high decisiveness. He understood that being “too nice” often results in leaders taking on more than they could manage. Seaga recognised that, instead of being people-pleasers, leaders would be more effective when they balanced their good nature with clear, focused priorities and high decisiveness.

As the conceptualiser of HEART Trust/NTA he recognised that a learning organisation is a good place to expand the capacity of students resulting in improved performance. He understood that in a learning organisation information should be shared freely; there should be a high level of collaboration between all parties. He would often remind that in an educational institution, learning is not limited to formal classroom training. He understood that learning is a continuous process that includes formal training, mentoring, coaching, and on-the-job training; shadowing, peer-to-peer learning, and self-learning among other methods.

The role of a leader, while it comes with tremendous benefits, it also has huge challenges and responsibilities. These include late hours, not getting a chance to have a proper meal regularly, no time for recreation, little or no time for family, etc. He was more preoccupied with his team and those who served than he was with himself. He recognised that the goal of his organisation could only be achieved with the collective support and effort of every member of the team.

I implore all Jamaicans to actively engage themselves in pursuits that are geared towards restoring civility and common decency throughout this nation. Let every citizen stand against immorality, indecency, lawlessness, selfishness, and greed. Let us stand for what is right, so that our living may not be in vain.

In this game of life each individual has a unique role to play; Edward Phillip George Seaga has played his role.

Rest in peace, Uncle Eddie.