Jesse Ramdeo and
Innis Francis
Determined to give their son of the soil a grand send-off, Harris Promenade in San Fernando was converted into a memorial concert for Dr Leory Calliste, best known as Black Stalin, on Tuesday evening.
The city’s Mayor, Junia Regrello, had declared January 3 Black Stalin Day in tribute to the calypso icon who passed away at his home in San Fernando on December 28.
While a party-like atmosphere blanketed the promenade, one particular person’s heart was covered with memories to last a lifetime.
Black Stalin’s wife Patsy Calliste said the venue tugged at her heartstrings, as it was where she and her husband first crossed paths.
Responding to questions about her most treasured memories with her husband, Calliste stated, “I was about 13 years, I was right here at Harris Promenade. We met here, it was a Holly Betaudier concert right on Harris Promenade, here we met.”
As she recalled their first encounter, Calliste said it was the eventual award-winning calypsonian who made the first move.
She said, “He made the first move. I always say to a calysonian, he passed on now, Boyie Mitchell, he was the one that tackled the event with us.”
Calliste said it was fate that brought them together and love kept them bonded through the decades.
She added, “When we was young, you couldn’t carry a calypsonian or a pan man in you mother’s house, they were called outcasts. So growing up, we separated for a bit, he went his way, I went my way for some years and we came right back until death do him part.”
On the staging of the event in honour of her husband, she said: “I am overwhelmed (at the outpouring of love and support). So much love for him; I see about him for eight years when he had the stroke. I toiled with him. I can’t find the words to say how I feel for my husband. It was love, love, love, all the time. Thankful for the love people shared around the world. I wish I could have him alive still.”
Calliste said Tuesday’s concert afforded her family the ability to celebrate Black Stalin’s life on the scale which could not have been done at their home.
“I couldn’t keep any big thing by me, I’m thankful for this here today because I couldn’t have this by me, it’s the public, it’s the people. I want to thank the San Fernando City Corporation, the Mayor of San Fernando, all who took time out to do this for Black Stalin.”
She said she was grateful to Regrello and the city cooperation and entertainers for the initiative of hosting the gala celebration.
Several artistes who the calypso icon would have once shared a stage with performed at the event.
Adanna “Lady Adanna” Charles said Stalin’s passing was a big hit to the art form and he will always be remembered as the ultimate teacher, father and mentor.
Devon “Dev” Harris attributed the concert/wake to a long-standing promise he had to perform a song with Stalin, and “to pay tribute is an honour for me.”
Shivonne “Lit Bitts” Churche-Issac was also poignant about the part Stalin played in her career.
She said: “He is the reason I am in the business. He made me feel I had a purpose.”
Representing Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley was Minister of Housing and Urban Development Camille Robinson-Regis. She said Stalin’s passing was a great loss to the country and the world over.
The celebration for Stalin continued on Wednesday with a public viewing at J.E Guide Funeral Home at Coffee Street, San Fernando, and continues on Thursday with a street procession from 9 am at the funeral home and flows over to a funeral service at the Southern Academy for the Performing Arts (SAPA) at 11 am and then to Paradise Cemetery at Keate Street, San Fernando, for his final resting place.
