PM to release two books next month

Two books written by Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves will be released in October.{{more}}

The books are called “The Making of The Comrade: The political journey of Ralph Gonsalves” and “Diary of a Prime Minister: Ten Days Among Benedictine Monks”.

“The Making of The Comrade”, which is an autobiography, has close to 400 pages.

Gonsalves, at a press conference on Monday, September 13, said while he touched on some pertinent issues in this publication, there are issues that he did not discuss as fully as he would have liked.

“I am still in office and I don’t want to say certain things about certain people, particularly when I am discussing some matters of foreign policy: what I think about some leaders and so on,” said Gonsalves.

He said discussions in some areas of this book are abbreviated.

Gonsalves said he decided to write this book about five months ago when six students between the ages of 18-19 visited him.

He said he decided to put his story on record after it struck him that the students’ understanding of his life’s work came from their parents’.

Professor Hillary Beckles, in a prologue to the book stated: “I have long been of the opinion that the Caribbean Civilization is rather like the rain-forest. In it resides, not hidden, but unseen, all the clues and glues to the future of our social condition. Light, and nothing else, will reveal insights. Enter the turbulent spirit we call ‘The Comrade’, a beam so bright, it pierces the canopy and brings life to the remotest recesses where dwell the threatened fauna.”

Sir Richard Cheltenham, a politician and lawyer from Barbados, who wrote the foreword, stated that the text is a story well worth telling.

He penned: “Besides being highly readable and fast-paced, it is laced with memorable anecdotes. It is infused, too, with warm and generous tributes to those who have helped along his journey.

“I recommend it without reservation to Vincentians at home and abroad and all students of the contemporary Caribbean scene. It should be read, too, by all aspiring and practicing politicians in the region and beyond.”

The ‘Diary of a Prime Minister’ has just under 200 pages.

Gonsalves said when he went to the Mount St. Benedict Monastery in 2005, he wrote a diary for his children.

He said although he didn’t want to publish it, upon reading it, his wife Eloise, daughter Isis, and a close friend encouraged him to share it with Vincentians.

He said it was intended to allow his children to see the reflections of their father in a place of peace and quiet.

“I don’t have money to give them, but I can give them who I am.”

Abbot John Pereira of Mt. St. Benedict, sharing his view on this publication, wrote: “We found his presence at the Abbey respectful and rewarding. It is my hope that you would find the pages of ‘Diary of a Prime Minister: Ten days among the Benedictine Monks’ as enjoyable as the monks appreciated his stay among them.”(HN)