ONCE again the nation is plunged into mourning as we learn of the passing of John Maxwell. John now joins those two other noted Jamaican intellectuals: Ralston ‘Rex’ Nettleford and Alston ‘Barry’ Chevannes, for whom the year 2010 marked the end of their mortal journey.

Interestingly if there is any consolation which can be drawn from the passing of these indomitable spirits, it is that all three managed to attain their biblically allotted three score and ten years with enormous vigour and aplomb. John, like his two other contemporaries, was defiant of age, vital and incisive almost to the very end. Yet, many like me will confess that despite their monumental accomplishments, we just could not seem to get enough of Ralston, Alston and John.

Like Nettleford and Chevannes, Maxwell passionately believed in the power of the people. For him journalism was a contact sport and he was never afraid to tackle his opponents with a verbal ferocity that could hardly be matched in its eloquence. I once pointed out in a letter to the editor that some of the vaunted figures of American and British media, with their gigantic emoluments, paled in comparison to the legendary Maxwell as a commentator… John was a veritable polymath comfortable in the complexities of arcane discourse.

I did not always agree with John Maxwell in fact we had a sharp exchange within the pages of this newspaper as I sought to refute his argument that Jamaica was a homophobic society. My response to the great man earned plaudits from none other than the Spike who cited my detailed rebuttal of John’s thesis as a primer on how to challenge an eminence gris, firmly, but respectfully. It could not have been otherwise. I was in awe of John’s journalistic prowess yet refused to be cowed by his legendary gifts. John’s incredible mastery of the English language bolstered by his awesome ability to seamlessly navigate arcane policy issues (both local and international ) made him an ideal intellectual ally and a most nettlesome foe. One could be in awe at his talent while being the target of his incisive and uncompromising wit.

It was out of my exchange with John in this newspaper that I would examine my views on homosexuality and gain a better understanding of human nature. I am forever in his debt for his lesson in tolerance.

John was passionate in his support of the Haitian people, carefully chronicling the monumental crimes perpetrated against this beacon of Caribbean freedom. He worked to demolish the myth that these occupants of the Western portion of Hispaniola were a benighted set of misplaced Africans, unable to come to terms with the imperatives of modernity. He was supportive, some would even say uncritical, of the Cuban Revolution. The achievements of the Cuban Revolution in the face of economic and military hostility from its powerful neighbour, the United States, was for John a shining example of what is possible when nations do not cave in to the dictates of hegemonic aspirations. Yet some would say John was never able to acknowledge the flaws inherent in the Cuban political model. However, it appeared to me that John saw the curtailment of political freedoms in the Cuban socio-economic construct as the inevitable reaction of a small nation state to the dark forebodings Of an existential threat. Whatever one might say about him, John was often able to provide a counterpoint to the prevailing narrative.

He was fulsome in his praise of those who earned his admiration most notably Norman Manley, whom he repeatedly described as the greatest Jamaican; and was blistering in his condemnation of those who drew his ire most significantly Edward Seaga whose outstanding achievements in the social, political and cultural spheres did not in any way dissuade Maxwell from continually heaping scorn on him. John could be implacable.

His advocacy of environmental causes — bringing to our attention the value of preserving the rich biodiversity that nature has so bountifully bequeathed us has also earned him brickbats from certain quarters which would seek to cast him as a Luddite, seemingly bent on having us perpetually dwell in the lush darkness of the jungle. John was of the opinion that there was tremendous economic value in remaining green. He thought that there were many secrets in the flora and fauna of this land which would reveal themselves to us if only we treated nature with the respect it deserved.

He flailed the previous Patterson administration for the construction of what he acerbically described as the “Doomsday Highway”. He not only thought it was an economic millstone around the necks of the Jamaican people, but that it would precipitate an environmental nightmare awaiting to unfold. He was against the idea of the establishment of the dormitory community of Portmore noting the area was unfit for human habitation given its perceived environmental vulnerabilities. John’s views were not often popular but his arguments were always cogent.

He was willing to be the only contrarian voice if he believed his cause was just. He was never afraid to be the one man against the world, and would never recoil from speaking truth to power. He would often be the lonely voice championing the cause of the dispossessed: the fisherman being evicted from Winnifred Beach or the Haitian national being forced to return to an uncertain future in his homeland after being washed up on Jamaican shores. He had an unflagging faith in the capacity of ordinary Jamaicans to do extraordinary things. He always contended that the crises so often faced by the Jamaican people was a result of the failure of the political imagination. Maxwell was indeed right about the greatness of the Jamaican people. We have done so much to vindicate his abiding faith in our ability to triumph in the face of overwhelming adversity. Yes Jamaica has indeed spawned some truly great men and what better argument can we use to support this claim than to say that as a nation we produced Ralston, Alston and John.

clyde.mckenzie@gmail.com