Dr. Anderson Reynolds is pleased to invite the public to the Castries launch of his fourth book, My Father Is No Longer There, at Alliance Francais,The Pyramid, Pointe Seraphine, on Thursday 7 November 2019 starting at 6:30PM.
Besides book reading and signing and Q&A by the author, the launch will include musical serenade, poetry reading by secondary school students, and a short film on the growing body of Vieux Fort literature.
My Father Is No Longer Therhttps://www.jakoproductions.com/my-father-is-no-longer-there-a-review-by-modeste-downes/e is a memoir inspired by the accidental death of Dr.Reynolds’ father. As such the book presents a meditation on the nature of death, the value of a life, and the nature of art and creativity. It is an exploration of family values, the depths of parental love and sacrifice, and the importance of parent-child bonding.
Indeed, the multifaceted nature of the book has prompted award-winning poet, Modeste Downes, to revel that “the memoir contains many stories, perhaps many books, within one cover.”
The Castries launch is the second leg of Dr. Reynolds national tour. The first leg was hosted in Vieux Fort on Saturday 19 October at the International American University (IAU). . The Vieux Fort launch included refreshments by Coconut Bay Resort and Spa, a thought-provoking presentation by Vieux Fort community leader and activist, Mr. Julius James, on the value and future of reading and writing such works as Dr. Reynolds’, poetic renditions by A-Level students of the Vieux Fort Comprehensive Secondary School and students of the Beanefield Comprehensive Secondary School, and musical performances by pannist McAllister Hunt and the Wayne Benoit and Dave Maximim folk and Kwéyòl duo.
But perhaps the highlight of the performances were the poetry presentations of the first and third place winners of the 2019 Vieux Fort North poetry competition hosted and sponsored earlier in the year by the honorable Moses “Musa” Jn. Baptiste. With over a hundred in attendance the launch was a great success.Many in the audience opinioned that there wasn’t even one boring moment. And the audience was so taken aback during Dr. Reynolds reading, that the silence of emotional attentiveness was palpable.
Dr. Reynolds’ views the publication and launching of My Father Is No Longer There as a celebration of and dedication to his father’s life. In fact,this is one of the reasons he chose to host the Vieux Fort launch during the month of Jounen Kwéyòl, for not only was his father from Vieux Fort North, a bastion of St. Lucian Kwéyòl and folk culture, but according to his memoir, his grandmother,his father’s mother, was a queen of folk culture in the manner of Dame Marie Selipha Sessene Descartes. In the memoir, Dr. Reynolds also revealed that it was on his farm in the Vieux Fort countryside that his father was the happiest, was the most himself.
It was no wonder that Dr. Reynolds reading at the Vieux Fort launch had such a profound impact on the audience, for the critics are also bowled over by My Father Is No Longer There. For instance, CARICOM diplomat and economist, Peter Lansiquot,said: “Dr. Reynolds’ mastery as a fierce story teller is yet again reaffirmed. This memoir calmly and thoroughly takes the reader along the rough terrain of a family’s epic struggle for survival…”
Modeste Downes,author of A Lesson on Wings, said: “A pulsating … riveting … andcompellingly readable narrative.”
And Dr. Jolien Harmsen, author of A History of St. Lucia, said: “A love ballad,a joy to read and a privilege to be savoured.”
Published by Jako Books, My Father Is No Longer There is all of215 pages and has a list price of US$24.95, but isbeing sold in St. Lucia at EC$60.00, and at the launchs it will be sold at thediscounted price of EC$50.00. The book is available online at amazon.com both in print and as eBook. In St. Lucia it is available at T&M Toy Stationary (JQ Plaza, VieuxFort), GloMart (Gablewoods South) Best of St. Lucia & Noah Arcade(Hewanorra International Airport), and AF Valmont (Laborie Street, Castries).
Besides the Vieux Fort and Castries launches, in continuation of his national tour, Dr. Reynolds will conduct a launch in Soufriere, and will start conducting book signings at venues around the island, readings at the island’s secondary schools, and readings at primary schools in the south of the island. Next year the author will embark on a regional and international tour.
For more information on My Father Is No Longer There, JakoProductions and Dr. Reynolds, please visit: www.jakoproductions.com, https://www.facebook.com/jakoproductions, https://www.facebook.com/jakobooks/, andhttps://www.facebook.com/LucianCulture/.
An Interview with Dr. Anderson Reynolds