Watching the West Indies batsmen in India in the current cricket clash, one is reminded of the instances in everyday Caribbean life where we run down the wicket, swing vigorously, and miss. Some of these misses make headlines and major examples pop up virtually every day – check today’s newspapers; you will find several – but there are some lesser ones, or more personal ones that occur, too.
Tradewinds played in Trinidad in mid-October at a fund-raiser for the late George Ng Wai, who was a linchpin in the music industry of that country for many years (he had been a devoted friend to me, as well), and a write-up of the fete appeared in the Newsday newspaper there. A Trini friend of mine mailed me a clipping of the story on October 23, and kept bugging me as to whether the thing had arrived. It finally came on November 13, some 20 days later. The Trini was aghast. I said to him: “They probably sent it by schooner…