Shake Ellsworth KEANE, St. Vincent, Internationally known Poet, famous
jazz trumpeter and flugelhorn player, worked for the BBC in the 50's and
60's. Director of Culture in St. Vincent and the Grenadines for one term of
contract(1972). World renown as a superb jazz musician in Germany, Sweden,
Norway, London, etc. Died in 1997 in Norway. See poem in memory of Keane by
former Resident Tutor/Director of University of the West Indies School of
Continuing Education, St.Vincent Branch, Cameron O'Neil King, delivered at
scond Anniversary celebration in New York, November 1999.
TRIBUTE TO SHAKE KEANE
By
CAMERON O'NEIL KING
HIS writing snapped and broke old habits of thought,
the smooth eloquence of his horn blessing new designs.
He had no illusions about resurrection and brotherly love,
"Can't beat ructions and eruptions", they tell it like it ain't,
even as thoughts elude murderous clutches of mind
and coil like serpents in secret places of the brain,
Smiling at the grey matter there in perfect villainy.
These things no doubt made him sweep
Many broken pints of deeper reflection
Into a native ocean of swollen indifference...
But the Creative Stature of the man,
The Goodwill of his nature, brotherhood of the man,
Music and Poetry of the Soul proclaiming the man,
What country in Truth would deny his liberty its berth,
Beacon of illumination for native sons, daughters true?
The mind, the man, the horn, speaking voice remain,
fluted harmony, poignant voice on a flood of tears:
Weeping, we kill those we claim for Love's estate,
Allow their human faults to shape their fate.
Cameron O'Neil KING: St. Vincent Poet and Cultural Producer of Music Shows and
Entertainment. 1938 - Most recent production, 1999: In The Valley Of The
Shadow: A Dialogue of travel on the subway trains of New York City between
the Shadow and another main character on American Life Values. Touches on
Racial concerns, violence in America's schools, the homeless, politics,
marital relations, and explores the contrast between the Carl Sagan type of
philosophy and that of the more traditional Christian approach to living.
Others by King: Voice of the Poet, Camm King, THE MANIFESTO, 1984*: Sections:
Prologue; The Kingdom Come; Shadows Move Among Them; Run; Choices; The
Manifesto.
AIBEL IN PAIN, 1983 Sections: The Awakening; The
Flight; death and Resurrection; The Return; The Healing. ( Contains both
standard English and Creole Dialect passages).
TOO DEEP FOR TEARS, 1980: Prologue; Casino State;
Future Shock; And This Is Our Land; Women And Children; For The Exiled.
VISION, 1973 Covers Origins, The quest For
Love, Dimensions and Requiem.
Critical Writings:UWI Allen Layne Essay Prize
winner(1964) on Derek Walcott's IN A GREEN NIGHT. (Walcott two decades later
became Nobel Prize Winner in Literature,(1993). Chapter On JAMAICAN
LITERATURE in Ian Fleming's JAMAICA(Fleming, writer of the James Bond
series).Andre Deutsch Publication. Joint Chapter with ed Louis James on
Derek Walcott in Oxford Book, THE ISLANDS IN BETWEEN. Journalism Series in
the Vincentian Newspaper, titled THE VINCENTIAN: STRAIGHT THINKING.
Next: Editor Anthony JOYETTE: VINCENTIAN POETS, 1950 TO 1980.
For further information, contact Patricia Baptiste, St. Vincent UWI
Librarian, University Center, Murray's Road, Kingstown, ST.VINCENT.
Sincerely, Homer Solomon
(Writer: Critical Analysis of King's "In The Valley Of The Shadow".)
return to Russ Filman's Caribbean Literature
