<Bt-4z38>Always place emphasis on what unites rather than divides us
TWO superb, readable little books were published during the latter part of 2005. They can be read in an evening and remembered for a lifetime. There are many striking parallels between the subjects’ lives. They did not come from a background of wealth and privilege. They became friends of people “who did not look like themselves”. They had personal magnetism and they accomplished much. Both have made Bermuda a better place than it was.These books are essential reading as they are welcome antidotes to the divisive remarks of some opportunistic politicians and those talk radio tirades that permeate our society today — tirades that are full of blanket smears and condemnations that leave many of us feeling like scuzz by association, tirades which have a highly corrosive effect on the unity of this community and on our sense of who we are as Bermudians.
The books should give hope to all those people who are beginning to feel they are incarcerated in an island that is now little more than a 20-square mile, open-air asylum (being run by some of the most incorrigible lunatics among us).
There is nothing fussy about the writing, just deeply moving portraits of two irrepressible men. Their stories are a refreshing change from the vituperative rhetoric and dogmatic posturing which is so prevalent and does absolutely nothing to promote civic or civil discourse or solve Bermuda’s complex problems.
The import of these books is that they remind us while we didn’t all come over on the same ship, we’re all in the same boat now. And that boat currently has some serious leaks.
These men with their path-breaking achievements are role models for the young — for this reason alone their stories should not be missed.
Tommy Aitchison’s book narrative A True Bermudian Champion charts the life of the gifted all-round sportsman Austin (Cheesey) Hughes. It is well researched and fluently written.
Tommy, a national treasure in his own right, is a wise and wily story teller. Indeed, he and his wife Lois (whose piano playing makes me misty eyed) are one of the most remarkable couples I have ever met and are a joy to be with.
Tommy’s inspiring story of Mr. Hughes should serve as an example not only to young black Bermudians but to ALL Bermudians.
Mr. Hughes is rightly regarded as one of the most gifted all-round sportsmen Bermuda has ever produced. He excelled at cricket, football and billiards from the post-war 1940s through to the 1960s and, just as importantly, lived his life off the sporting field according to the same “fair-play” rules he so rigorously adhered to in the various sports he pursued.
Mr. Hughes was a Somerset Cup Match player for ten successive years and took five wickets for 76 against the visiting Pakistan national team in 1958. He was also a league champion with Pembroke Juniors in football and a Bermuda champion in billiards.
For many years he was one of the top-ranking members of Bermuda’s Prison Service and was renowned for his firm but fair demeanour in the island’s jails.
While he could be tough, he also made it his business to personally interview every new prisoner when they were taken into custody and he would keep in touch with them until the day they were released. He would support, encourage and, yes, sometimes cajole those who had made mistakes in their lives to try to reclaim their places in society while they were in prison — and in many instances he succeeded.
To this day I am told that the biggest satisfaction Mr. Hughes gets is bumping into a former prisoner on the street who stops to say, ‘Thanks for helping me’. That sort of respect is a testament to Mr. Hughes’ character and sterling qualities.
Through hard work and with the dedicated support of a small group of like-minded colleagues, Robin Stubbs has managed to write The Renaissance Man, an eloquent, touching and thoughtful pen portrait of her truly extraordinary and unforgettable late husband, Dr. John Stubbs.
The book contains numerous photographs and tributes which add enormously to its flavour. It also has that rare quality of being both an excellent reference book (the early history of the United Bermuda Party) and a pleasure to read.
Another virtue of this book is its structure. The author is not always trapped by her chronological framework which is the fate of most diaries and biographies. Instead when the subject demands it, she manages to deftly flit back and forth among the decades.
John was, among other things, a scientist, a sportsman, a politician, a medical practitioner — and a prankster with an infectious sense of humour.
As some people know, Dr. Stubbs was not only a political colleague of mine for many years but a dear personal friend.
Along with the late Dr. Stan Ratteray (who encouraged Robin to write the book), we shared so many adventures and laughs that they could fill another — and very different — volume.
Here are one or two stories that readers may deem humorous enough to raise a smile.
The Queen visited Bermuda in 1976 en route to the American Bicentennial celebrations. All Members of Parliament and their spouses lined up to meet her outside Parliament. John’s wife, Robin, was correctly introduced to Her Majesty as Mrs. John Stubbs.
Early that same evening there was a reception aboard the Royal yacht Britannia <$>in Hamilton. John had declined his invitation because he was flying out of the island that night on business. Robin wanted to attend but it was too late to wangle a new invitation. I have never attached much importance to protocol or pomp or ceremony.
Since my then-wife was off the island at the time, I said: “I have an invitation for Mr.
In addition, someone either in the Front Street crowd or on board the Britannia called my mother who gave me hell “for taking some blonde to meet the Queen”.
In any event, I am sure Robin Stubbs is the only person in the world to have met Her Majesty in the space of a couple of hours under two different names. The Queen must have suspected something because later, at a banquet, she asked Sir Edward Richards who I was. E.T. smiled and said: “Oh, that fellow gives me a lot of trouble . . . he is always up to some mischief.”
As if life in Bermuda wasn’t exciting enough, John decided to go to the Pakistan/Afghan border to work for Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders) following the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979. This international organisation of physicians works without pay, patching up people in Third World countries — usually dangerous ones.
When he returned from the first of what would prove to be several stints in Central Asia, John appeared at my dock at Salt Kettle one Saturday afternoon on a sailboard (his skill and dexterity on this board always amazed me because he was no lightweight).
He proceeded to share with me a conversation he had with an Afghan doctor during his first day in a refugee camp close to the front lines where fighting between Afghans and the Red Army was continuing:
Afghan doctor: “Dr. Stubbs, you really needn’t worry about all of the bullets whizzing around here. The one meant for you will have your name on it.”
Stubbs: “Yes, but what about those addressed ‘To Whom It May Concern’.”
There was nothing ordinary about John Stubbs. One could throw sponges from a high building onto the street for a month and never hit a person like him.
John, Stan Ratteray and I may not have “looked alike” but we shared many commonalities and we thought alike on many subjects (however, I do not ever remember us discussing the “plantation mentality”).
The three of us covered everything from the history of ideas and cultures and values to questions of relativism: Winston Churchill and Adolf Hitler — who had the greatest impact on the 20th century? Walt Disney and Pablo Picasso — whose art will more likely be remembered a hundred years from now?
As President Kennedy once so vividly put it, in the final analysis our most basic common links outweigh our many cultural and ethnic differences — we all inhabit this small planet, we all breathe the same air, we all cherish our children’s futures and we are all mortal.
We, who inhabit this small and fragile island, should always bear these words in mind. We must always place our emphasis on what unites rather than divides us.
Bermuda/North Carolina
