AUTHOR Diana Thorburn’s most recent publication, titled Mayer Matalon: Business, Politics and the Jewish-Jamaican Elite, portrays the life and success of the highly influential Mayer Matalon, while highlighting the issues of race, class and power in Jamaica’s post-colonial era. Recognised as a much welcomed body of work, the Jamaica Library Service (JLS) lauded the donation of 240 copies, donated by chairman of ICD Group Holding and son of Mayer Matalon, Joseph Matalon, as a timeless piece written about Jamaica, by a Jamaican, for Jamaicans.

Deemed an eye-opening depiction of Jamaica, director general of the JLS, Maureen Thompson, regards the book as a lasting addition to the 111 libraries across the island.

“This donation is quite significant, as it is one that represents local content, and the author is Jamaican. This is an area that really is underrepresented in our libraries, so we are always elated when we get books that have this type of focus. It will be of interest to all our citizens whether young or old. When we have books that are written of citizens who have achieved much in this country, it is always inspiring, it’s telling others that you too can achieve and accomplish much in your life,” she said.

From ideation to publication, Thorburn, a Jamaican researcher, writer, and editor, credits Mayer Matalon: Business, Politics and the Jewish-Jamaican Elite as her first non-academic publication. The piece took a total of four years to be completed; throughout this course of time she interviewed several people. Thorburn shared, “I started working on this book in 2015 and it was published in 2019. I’m a reader of biography and memoirs and I wanted to read about the life and times of Jamaicans, about how Jamaica came to be the way it is, and countries often times come to be the way they are because of outstanding individuals, and Mayer Matalon was an intriguing and fascinating person who was undeniably outstanding. He was almost always behind the scenes of so many things in Jamaica’s history that he played a role in. My desire to read about my own country and having knowledge of this powerful and influential man that no one had ever written anything about was the drive behind creating this body of work.”

This biography traces Matalon’s path from humble beginnings to his rise as innovator, public servant, political insider and leader of his family’s conglomerate. It tells a story of race, class, and power in post-colonial Jamaica, and of the island’s political and economic trajectory over the sixty years before and after independence.

“When I was approached by Diana for help in providing information to write this book, I was a little bit tentative at first, but truth is I know Diana and what a good writer she is, so if anybody was going to do it she would be the best person to do it. We gave her all the help in setting up interviews with various people, and I think she must have interviewed over 100 people in the course of writing this book,” Joseph Matalon shared.

“What I appreciate about this book is that it tells the story that the family did not come from anything, when growing up there were 11 siblings and they shared shoes and pants and had to take turns wearing them. What this says to me is that if you are willing to commit yourself to your own self-development then it is possible to succeed in this beautiful life,” Matalon continued.

Thorburn, enthused about the donation made by Matalon, shared, “I hope the book will have a positive impact on Jamaicans. Jamaicans need to see themselves more, we need to know our own stories told by ourselves. What strikes me about Jamaica is the extent to which people can attain upward social and economic mobility; it’s really incredible. And Mayer’s story is an early story of that. And we can look all around us and see so many stories that are quite fascinating, usually these persons are smart or talented, or even that they have someone who is looking out for them and really pushes them to their full potential and in Mayer’s case it was his math teacher who invested in his potential to thrive in his natural born intelligence with numbers. There’s a lot of scope for upward mobility in Jamaica, it just takes the right person to be invested in you.”