“I’m told that Jamaicans don’t like to read, and that within that group of those who read, there is a subset of people who don’t buy books, preferring to ‘borrow a read’,” Desmond Allen, founding editor of the Jamaica Observer newspaper, told Bookends shortly after the virtual book release party, on Sunday, October 1, 2023, of his debut book, Desmond Allen’s Greatest Hits: Wondrous Tales of Extraordinary Jamaicans. The book is a collection of fascinating interviews with 20 outsize Jamaican personalities between 2004 and 2022, with them appearing exclusively in the Jamaica Observer.

“I produced this book with a mission to help get Jamaicans reading again. It was not just about the mere telling of some great stories. I wanted the language to be simple, entertaining and riveting so that readers would find it hard to put down,” he said.

Allen, who on the day of the release party celebrated his 50th anniversary as a journalist, also dedicated the book to his boss and mentor, late Jamaica Observer and Sandals Resorts International Chairman Gordon “Butch” Stewart who had encouraged him to publish a book preserving the legacy of outstanding Jamaicans. The hotelier and magnate passed in 2021.

Stewart takes pride of place on the cover with the other 19 personalities who are featured in the book, sharing their unbelievable stories of mostly humble beginnings, and overcoming remarkable odds before achieving breathtaking dreams.

Through their lenses, Jamaicans can see the post-Independence past and hear stories behind some of the most momentous events in the life of the nation; for example, the unlikely journey of the then fledgling Reggae Boyz national football team to the 1998 World Cup in France, thanks to late visionary sporting aficianado and businessman aptain Horace Burrell.

The personalities also include Jamaica’s first woman prime minister, Portia Simpson Miller; politico and current Minister of Sport Olivia “Babsy” Grange, who was detained under a state of emergency; Paula Llewellyn, the first woman director of public prosecutions (DPP); iconic dub poet Mutabaruka; supercop and enfant terrible Reneto Adams; entrepreneur Thalia Lyn’s courageous, if ill-fated attempt to take Island Grill to the US; the late gladiator journalist John Maxwell; the man who gave Jamaica the beloved Tastee patty, Vincent Chang; talismanic Montego Bay businessman Tony Hart; and media practitioner and blind wonder Patrick Lafayette, among others.

Allen has penned over 70 well-received interviews in the paper, the Desmond Allen Interviews and Families in Business series being among the most popular reads. “I chose the 20 [for this book] based on the ones that got the most responses from readers,” Allen told Bookends. These, he added, comprise the first volume in what is hoped to be many more.

The 394-page book, published by BambuSparks, features a limited gold edition with Jamaican purchasers’ names to be embossed on the cover, a paperback and an e-book version and is available for purchase now online at amazon.com. Selected local bookstores and other outlets are expected to carry the title in short order and will make excellent gifts and stocking-stuffers for the approaching Yuletide season.