His name is actually Jerry Goveia, but folks refer to him as ‘Banks Jerry’ (he worked as a manager at Banks DIH for many years before his retirement) to differentiate him from the other guy, the pilot one, with the same-sounding name, and he actually came to mind recently after a column I wrote on flamboyant Guyanese from times past, not in the sense of being flamboyant but as one of those people who leave an impression on you that endures.
I actually knew Jerry as ‘Gov’ going back to the days when we were together at Saints (the timing here is early 1950s) and that’s the name that has stuck with me. Gov seemed to play every sport known to man and some, like labass, known only to Guyanese. He was into soccer, field hockey, high jump, volleyball, 100-yard dash, rugby (I think he was on our national team several times), and was known as a ferocious competitor in each. Any kind of physical challenge, Gov was there. He would go down to the wharf,