Dear Editor,
On January 3, 2024, his birth date, my friend Earl John… currently transitioning to the ancestors, promised himself that he would stand on his own two feet, and miraculously – he did. We tend to wait until after they have left – to pay tribute to those who mean a lot to us –whether they be family members or friends or deserving politicians. Thank you dear Editor – for this brief space to turn that tradition on end.
Let’s take our hats off … pour a libation for E.B. John who — through frequent Letters to the Editor, has shared advice for Guyana’s development – a way forward; his proficiency achieved through decades in management.
I’m witnessing my friend transitioning… while tirelessly trying to redefine the meaning of (my) ‘second childhood’ – ool eej (old age in Gaiyaniiz Kriiyoliiz, and orthodox vocabulary). This process (… begun in my seventies) has been variously instructive… enlightening; it has clarified this significant fact: we’ll not change the meaning of that ‘ool piipl’ label – unless and until we begin to pay full respect to the power in a child’s mind/imagination and proudly claim the label ‘second childhood’; the child – like the unreasonable old woman or man – is after all only declaring I AM! from beginnings to transitioning.
This is no Eulogy…. but a mere acknowledgment of Earl John’s inspiration as he “rages against the dying of the light”; a motivation to this octogenarian, and a metaphor the poet pictures in ‘Do not Go Gentle Into that Dark Good Night’.
Yours faithfully,
Joan Cambridge-Mayfield
