Dear Editor,
I extend my deepest sympathies and condolences to the family of former President Janet Jagan on her passing. Guyana has lost its founding mother.
She transformed the nation, serving with distinction and selfless dedication. She has lived an extraordinary life that is an inspiration for us as we move forward into the future she has made possible. My memory of her will forever remain her kindness when she reached out to me in the early days of Kaieteur News. I talked with her at the Mirror newspaper, seeking her experience as a journalist and newspaper publisher, to be able to start a successful new national newspaper as a very young man.
She was ready and willing to offer words of encouragement and advice. The Kaieteur project was possible because she had worked so hard to open Guyana to the possibility of freedom of expression and economic democracy, where a young man from the new generation could dream and reach for the stars. Without Janet Jagan would Guyana ever have escaped its darkness? Would my generation ever have been able to do new and exciting things? May her dream for Guyana live on and really become real.
Her contribution, not only to Guyana but to the world through her strong stand for a democratic and free nation, will forever live in the national psyche.
Her stand for decent governance is legendary.
A great Guyanese has passed away, and the nation mourns while remembering her amazing grace on the national stage.
Yours faithfully,
Shaun Michael Samaroo
