Memories of Ben Lockhart

“Professor Benham E. L. Lockhart was born in Kingstown, St. Vincent, the West Indies, in 1945. He earned his B.Sc. Degree in tropical agriculture at the University of the West Indies in Trinidad in 1965. In 1969, at 24 years of age, he obtained his Ph.D Degree in plant pathology at Riverside University of California.

Between 1969 and 1971, he was a postdoctoral fellow with M. K. Brakke at the University of Nebraska and with D. E. Schlegel at the University of California, Berkeley. He has been a faculty member of the Department of Plant Pathology at the University of Minnesota since 1971, becoming professor in 1986.” End of my extract!

Trust my buy-us judgement, but de next time yuh are bored, lacklustre or uninspired, Google de name Professor Benham Lockhart of SVG- sorry, Ben Lockhart of Murray’s Village. Can’t leave out Murray Village, ah strip of Real Estate within de Richmond Hill Cadastral Block in Kingstown. As far back as ah youth, dey was an Eddy-Care-shun Rev-all-yuh-shun, and de struggling components were between Primary and Secondary school and Trade. If yuh complete Primary and get into Secondary (BGS and GHS), consider yuh bread done butter, dey bawl was den in yuh Court. If yuh did not mek Secondary, yuh best bet was ah skill e.g. mason, carpenter, plumber, electrician, police, nurse. After dat “Crappo smoke yuh pipe!”

Within dat Rev-all-yuh-shun was some bright and shining stars. Dey was only one Island-schol every other year. In my 5-year term ah recall BGS students names like Ball-win King, Errol “EG” King, and Ben Lockhart. Ah had to explain to Lie-Za how dem fellas was bright, all-ways ahead ah de others, dey came first in every test, in every subject, performing like dey had brain to spare.

However my two pence bit on Ben goes thus: “ It was indeed an Ah-nah to have spent one year in class wid Ben Lockhart. He was four years my junior. Ah recall how Class-teachers uses to raise dey eye brows when Ben delivered oral answers to questions. De year Ben won de Island Schol, dey were students wid whom he entered school, still fighting up in fourth form. Ben caught-up wid everybody, including Jim, “Cocoa Judge” his elder brother, and cruised past us.

Very early in his life (ah school-boy) Ben became ah “Born-again Christian.”

He was always humble, solidly grounded and well focused. Dey are two lickle life’s ah-nex-dotes we shared. He completed his first Degree in three of de five years of dat Island Scholarship dat he won, and had to get approval from de Colonial Office in dem days to go further his studies in de USA. Ah met him in tears trying to push his documents, only to discover dat ah selfish public servant had all de Doc-yuh-mints hidden in his desk. ‘Thank God’ foh de late Henry H Williams, Chief Secretary, who came to Ben’s rescue. We met foh de last time after he had completed his “first” PhD and had returned to celebrate in his usual modest style.

Humbly he explained dat de journey was in stages: Infant 1, Common Entrance; Senior Cambridge (O- Levels); Higher School (A-Levels); First Degree (BSc); Masters (MSc) and finally den it was his Doc-to-Rate (PhD). “No Problem at all Bassy” he said. So what exactly is dis PhD all about, what did yuh learn?” I asked. Quite casually he explained when he did one of his final Lab Test, de room was supposed to be Germs Free, but de examiners found ah dead fly, so he had to do it all over.

“ And what did yuh learn from dat one lickle dead fly?” Painfully he reminded me when we were kids, hunger bussing we tail, and we saw bread, cake, or fruit uncovered pon de table, nobody got time to wash hands, even if fly dey flying bout. Germs or no germs, yuh fan de insect away and say: “shoe fly nah bother me” and yuh eat. Aren’t we all alive today” he asked. “Conclusion!” he said. “In SVG if ah child lives to three years and germs ain’t kill him or her, no germs is likely to kill dat child.”

Thank yuh Ben! Yuh have done SVG proud! And wid dat is gone ah gone again.

One Love Bassy

• Bassy Alexander is a land surveyor, folklorist and social commentator.