Ryan Bachoo
Lead Editor—Newsgathering
ryan.bachoo@cnc3.co.tt
Renowned author and historian, Michael Anthony, a man Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley has called “one of our best timekeepers” died at home at the age of 91 on Wednesday night.
The family issued two statements yesterday, the first of which confirmed his death.
“Michael was an icon and a giant in the literary world and his legacy is deeply woven into the tapestry of our nation, which he loved so dearly,” the statement read. It went further in saying, “Above all, Michael was an adoring husband, father and grandfather and we will miss him deeply. We thank you for your well wishes, and we kindly ask for privacy during this difficult time.”
“Anthony was a new breed of writers coming after the first wave that included the giants like Lamming and Selvon. He was an utterly indigenous writer,” academic and writer Professor Kenneth Ramchand said yesterday in reacting to Anthony’s death.
His work spanned across West Indian storytelling and record-keeping of T&T’s history.
In over 30 novels, Green Days by the River became a household name, mainly because the 1967 book was read by hundreds of secondary school students studying literature.
Two years before, The Year in San Fernando was published and it catapulted Anthony into the spotlight.
The indigenousness of his writing as so labelled by Professor Ramchand was echoed by Roydon Salick, who wrote a book on Anthony’s books.
It was titled; T&T’s Mayaro Gold. Salick told Guardian Media yesterday, “More memorably than anybody else, he put Mayaro and San Fernando on the map. Sam Selvon was born in San Fernando and spent the first two decades of his life in San Fernando and didn’t do as much for San Fernando as Michael Anthony who spent in 1942 or so just one year in San Fernando and immortalised it in the book; The Year in San Fernando.”
Ramchand yesterday described him “a meticulous” man whom he said would often make rude jokes.
“He was much freer in conversation than in his writing. He is not a man to use bad words at all,” Ramchand recalled.
He says it took him years for Anthony to tell him legendary calypsonian, Zandolie, born Sylvester Anthony, was his brother “because he was embarrassed.”
Zandolie was considered the King of smut and one of the dominant “rude boys” of calypso music during the 1960s and ‘70s.
Ramchand added that Anthony made political statements with his writing but would not be drawn into speaking about it.
He pointed to Green Days by the River, a book centred on racial themes where an Indian man marries an African woman and have a dougla child or The Year in San Fernando where the southern city is based on sugar and oil production.
“If you read him carefully which people don’t do because they think he is simple, you would see that he makes profound comments about our society,” Ramchand said.
As Anthony’s status in the literary world rose, he would be recognised for it.
He was the recipient of the Hummingbird Medal (Gold) in 1979 for his contribution to literature.
He was also awarded an honorary doctorate from The University of the West Indies in 2003 and an honorary doctorate from the University of T&T in 2016. He also received a lifetime literary award from the National Library.
Despite the accolades down the years, Anthony never ran out of passion for writing.
In 2020, at the age of 90, he published his 35th book titled, The Sound of Marching Feet. It was based on the impact American soldiers had on T&T during the Second World War. Three years before, his iconic Green Days by the River was turned into a movie by director, Michael Mooleedhar.
Yesterday, Mooleedhar recalled how he became friends with Anthony during the production process of the movie.
He would spend time with Anthony at his home at least once a month. He recalled how Anthony loved talking about calypso music.
The author of Green Days by the River would play an integral part in the production of taking the words from the pages from his book and putting into the motion of a movie.
Mooleedhar said down to the fine details of the trees that were in his yard, Anthony would help with.
Both continued to be friends after the movie premièred in 2017. The screen director says Anthony never forgot his duty to the nation, “If a school or NALIS would call, he would do a reading. He would very much make himself available. I think now we have to do our part and make sure he is remembered.”
Anthony’s death came as Iere Theatre Productions was in the planning process to celebrate his work in 2024.
Fresh from taking San Selvon’s A Brighter Sun to the stage of Naparima Bowl, Victor Edwards is working on taking Green Days by the River to the theatre next year.
The head of Iere Theatre Productions told Guardian Media yesterday, “He held up a mirror to society. He tried to show us ourselves and who we are and to become comfortable with who we are. It is a remarkable legacy he has left for us.”
Edwards has long advocated at CXC level for West Indian novels such as the ones Anthony wrote to play a greater role in the curriculum. He used Anthony’s death to renew this call, saying, “Because his work deals with adolescents and the relationships they are trying to work out as young people, whether it trying to understand the society or one another as they grow older, I think his work can play a significant role in helping young people to understand themselves as well.”
Rowley also offered tributes to Anthony on his Facebook page, saying: “He encouraged us and made it possible to visit and revisit our ancestry and our progress. He recorded the apparent inconsequential only to enlighten us about who we are and how we made it.”
Meanwhile, Minister of Tourism, Culture and the Arts, Randall Mitchell, added, “His years of work as an educator and mentor have undoubtedly inspired and shaped the minds and talents of many today and therefore his legacy will live on.”
In a second media statement yesterday, the family of Anthony advised that a private funeral ceremony will be held to commemorate his life.