Olive Lewin a cultural giant
Published:Friday | April 12, 2013 | 12:00 AM
THE EDITOR, Sir:
Like many Jamaicans, I mourn the passing of one of our leading historians and cultural activists, Dr Olive Lewin. An accomplished musician and talented teacher, Dr Lewin was a joy to be around.
I have the honour to have known her from childhood and was fortunate to be able to call on her whenever I needed information on Jamaican folk culture for my own research. It was easy to speak with her for hours as she shared her memories of growing up in Clarendon, the people with whom she worked, and the children whom she taught. These discussions always involved music and were as invaluable as they were enjoyable.
Like many other parents, when I hear my children singing Jamaican folk songs, I am grateful to her because I know that it is thanks to her painstaking work with the Jamaica Memory Bank that they were recorded.
Dr Lewin was truly an inspiration. She dedicated her life to the preservation of important oral and musical traditions and worked tirelessly to preserve these vital elements of our heritage.
She is, beyond doubt, an icon of our times. We all owe Dr Lewin an immeasurable debt of gratitude. Given her love of children, I would like to suggest, with the agreement of her family, that as one token of our appreciation for her contribution to national development, we rename a recently completed early-childhood institution in her parish, perhaps the Foga Road Basic School, after her.
I hope that those in the position to consider this suggestion as one of many appropriate tributes to be accorded this wonderful lady will do so.
May she rest in peace.
REBECCA TORTELLO
GREENLAND