She brought joy to many through theatre. She was often the voice of reason on her radio and television programmes, much sought after to host popular events, along with her buddy comedienne Nikki Crosby. An all-rounder when it came to entertainment, Mairoon Ali did it all. But most importantly, she was a friend, a mother and a sister to many. Sadly, the life of Ali was cut short when she reportedly slipped and fell in the bathroom of her Carlton Street home in St James, sometime between Saturday night and yesterday morning. She was 54. However, the cause of death is yet to be determined.
According to relatives, Ali was found by her son soca artiste Olatunji Yearwood around 10.30 am yesterday, on his return home from a night out. At the scene yesterday, where the body remained for just over two hours before the district medical officer arrived, the atmosphere was filled with gloom and sadness, as undertakers removed the body from the home of the former Holy Name Convent teacher. "Bawl, man Bawl!" yelled a relative, and everyone broke down, her son wailing in grief and asking God why. Ali had a programme on I95.5FM, but was currently working with Gayelle, the Channel.
?A distraught Nikki Crosby, Mairoon Ali's best friend, cries, as Dale Enoch takes some time to gather himself before talking with reporters at Ali's home on Carlton Street, St James, yesterday. PHOTOS: Andre Alexander
'She was full of life'
During a brief interview yesterday, close friends Crosby and former president of the Media Association of T&T Dale Enoch described Ali as a woman full of life who had a lot more to do. "I didn't just lose a friend, I lost family today," said a teary-eyed Crosby. She said Ali retired from teaching to go fully into theatre. Ali was also in the midst of writing a book of poems titled Mairoon's Mind, she added. "She always used to say that she had another good 20 years to go before someone could help her...I don't know how to handle this," Crosby said. "Mairoon was just full of life. We were supposed to go Christmas shopping today...I can't think of Christmas without her."
Enoch echoed Crosby's sentiments as he reminisced on the new year's trip they were all planning to St Lucia. It would not be the same, he said. "This woman was about life and living, none of us is prepared for this," he said. Ali leaves to mourn her son Olatunji Yearwood, daughter Aka Ali-Yearwood and stepson Roland Yearwood. An autopsy is expected to be performed on the body this morning. Ali acted in a number of plays including the Vagina Monologues and Sex in the City. She was quoted in yesterday's Sound Off section of the Sunday Guardian. Ali was concerned about crime and "the National Performing Arts Centre, on which so much money was spent to build and I am worried that as we speak, we have no place to house our greatest shows for Carnival."
