Jako Books has announced that Award-winning Caribbean author Dr. Anderson Reynolds is now in New York to begin his international book tour of his sixth book, They Called Him Brother George: Portrait of A Caribbean Politician.
The book captures from multiple perspectives the political, artistic, and personal life of George Odlum, highlighting the public’s fascination, mystification, love, hate, and appreciation of George Odlum and their opinions on his place in St. Lucian and world history.
In shining light on the tumultuous political career of George Odlum, whom some regarded as a colossal Caribbean leader, one of the region’s best orators, and one of its most charismatic and controversial politicians, They Called Him Brother George: Portrait of A Caribbean Politician answers such questions as what was the principal source of Odlum’s greatness? Does he deserve St. Lucia’s Man of the Century Award? If he was so great, how come he never became Prime Minister? And how would St. Lucia be different if he had become Prime Minister?
The New York leg of the tour is being hosted by the Consulate General of St. Lucia in New York, at 6:30 PM on Thursday 19 October at the St. Lucia House (438 E 49th Street, Brooklyn NY 11201; b/w Snyder & Church Ave). Tour dates for other cities including Hartford, Toronto, Atlanta, South Florida, Washington DC, and London will be announced soon.
At each leg of the tour, the author will introduce his body of work, including six books, read from They Called Him Brother George, entertain questions and conduct book signings, where all his books will be available for sale.
Launched earlier in the year in the author’s home island of St. Lucia, at which both the former Prime Minister Dr. Kenny D. Anthony and the current Prime Minister Philip J. Pierre attended and provided remarks, They Called Him Brother George: Portrait of A Caribbean Politician has garnered plenty of critical praise.
For example, Samuel Bowers, author of Talking Truth to St. Lucian Power, said: “A very engaging and excellent summary of our political history … a wonderful reconstruction of George Odlum’s life from the people who knew him best.” Novelist Clive Sankardayal said: “A historical and political masterpiece…visionary, most enlightening and superbly written…” Cassius Elias, former cabinet minister and author of Enough is Enough, said: “A very comprehensive book on the life and times of George Odlum … have captured everything worth noting about this truly great patriot and outstanding St. Lucian and Caribbean Statesman par excellence.”
Likewise, romance novelist Verna Cyril said: “A powerful yet humorous narrative of a Caribbean leader’s epic journey of fighting for the economic empowerment of the working man and the eradication of political corruption.”
Dr. Jolien Harmsen, author of A History of St. Lucia, said: “A weighty book…a vast memorial of George Odlum …adds several layers of critical analysis and hypothesis… a kind of communal catharsis… (above all) portrays the political coming-of-age of Odlum’s cohort.” Allan Weekes, dramatist and author of Talk of the Devil, said: “A reading feast, full of warmth, positively delightful.” And former Prime Minister and author of At The Rainbow’s Edge Dr. Kenny D. Anthony said: “A tremendous accomplishment…Dr. Reynolds displayed versatility and style, his prose is smooth, elegant, even disposing, but sympathetic and respectful…”
Anderson Reynolds was born and raised in Vieux Fort, St. Lucia, where he resides. He holds a Ph.D. in Food and Resource Economics from the University of Florida.
Besides his three latest books—They Called Him Brother George: Portrait of a Caribbean Politician, No Man’s Land: A Political Introspection of St. Lucia, and the memoir My Father Is No Longer There—he is the author of three award-winning and national best-selling books, namely the novels The Stall Keeper and Death by Fire and the creative nonfiction The Struggle for Survival: an historical, political, and socioeconomic perspective of St. Lucia. Dr. Reynolds’ featured articles in St. Lucian magazines and newspapers won him a 2001 M&C Literature Award for creative journalism and a 2006 National Arts Award for creative journalism. His books, blogs, and newspaper and magazine articles have established him as one of St. Lucia’s most prominent public intellectuals and a foremost authority on its socioeconomic history.
His writing, be it fictional or nonfictional, has been described as a world in which a great drama unfolds, where history, geography, nature, culture, the supernatural, and socioeconomic factors all combine to seal the fate of characters, communities, or, for that matter, the fate of whole nations or civilizations. In this crucible of a world, readers are provided with deep insights into where St. Lucians come from, who they are as a people, and how they became who they are.
Caribbean economist and diplomat Peter Lansiquot unabashedly pronounced that “In Dr. Reynolds St. Lucia has produced another writer of the calibre, or of even deeper essence than Nobel Laureate V. S. Naipaul.”
Published by Jako Books, They Called Him Brother George: Portrait of a Caribbean Politician includes 299 pages and has a list price of US$24.95, but is sold in St. Lucia at EC$65.00. All Dr. Reynolds’ books are available online at amazon.com in print and as eBooks. In St. Lucia, they are available at T&M (JQ Plaza, Vieux Fort), GloMart (Gablewoods South), Noah’s Arkade (UVF), M&C (Bridge Street, Castries), Taste of St. Lucia (Pt. Seraphine), Hallmark (JQ Rodney Bay Mall), and Books & Tinzs (Soufriere). Readers can also call (758-712-8024/758-286-8024), text, or email (info@jakoproductions.com) Jako Productions with their order for drop-off at their preferred location.
