04012021 WEEKEND

Thursday, April 1, 2021

interview gardening history holidays puzzles animals food

Weekend

A sensei is born Page 04 + 05

Easter joys Enjoy trivia, recipe ideas and film recommendations for the holidays

pgs 08 +09

02 | The Tribune | Weekend

Thursday, April 1, 2021

photography

The beauty of the Exumas

By CARA HUNT | Tribune Features Writer | cbrennen@tribunemedia.net

Photos/Eric Rose

T

he past year of lockdowns has given veteran photographer Eric Rose a new appreciation of the beauty of the Bahamian Family Islands.

Now that that many of the travel bans caused by the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic have lifted, Eric has been able to continue his quest to showcase the beauty of the country from his unique eye as a nature photographer.

This week, he shares with us some stunning images of the beautiful islands of Exuma.

“I have photographed scenery in the islands of Exuma for over a dozen years,” he told Tribune Weekend.

The islands and cays of Exuma are world-renowned for their marine life, and the protected Exuma Land and Seas Park and is a paradise and a playground for nature enthusiasts.

“This past month I had the opportunity to capture Great Exuma. I decided to use as many different tools as possible because I was not sure when I would get back to this beautiful island, after not being able to visit for over a year,” he said.

Eric explained that while he used his professional Canon 80D and DJI Mavic Air 2 camera drone, several of the images were shot on his simple Samsung Galaxy A31 phone.

“I wanted to try as many ways as possible to display its beauty,” he explained.

Amateur photographers, Eric added, can definitely use their smartphones to capture gorgeous images “Right now, domestic tourism is more appealing to me, and this is a great way to showcase the beauty of my country, especially on Instagram and Twitter,” he said.

“I won an international photography contest a few years back with images from the Bahamas, as well as showcased my views of various islands in art exhibitions in the past. The Bahamas is a wonderful country, and I am humbled and honoured to be able to help to show the world just how wonderful.”

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Thursday, April 1, 2021

Weekend Inside

Five Easter facts

Interview 4 – 5

Being held up and robbed by five men in his youth, led Mickey Munnings to become a fifthdegree black belt in judo

THE WORLD’s largest Easter egg • The Easter bunny doesn’t come from the Bible.

It is said to have originated from German immigrants who settled in Pennsylvania and brought their tradition of an egg-laying hare called Osterhase or Oschter Haws.

Puzzles 6 Food 7, 10

French cuisine meets local seafood at Café Boulud, plus ‘Chef Showdown’ to promote local farmers

Holidays 8-9

Ideas for Easter brunch and recommendations for movies for the whole family

Forgotten Facts 11

Cricket, the Bahamas’ national sport

Literary Lives 12 – 14

Rediscovering a queen of Regency romance novels

Animals 15

10

Dogs and crime, plus Pet of the Week

Gardening 16

Time to step it up and go bigger with your repotting

THIS WEEKEND IN HISTORY April 2

• In 1932, aviator Charles A Lindbergh and John F Condon went to a cemetery in The Bronx, New York, where Condon turned over $50,000 to a man in exchange for Lindbergh’s kidnapped son. (The child, who was not returned, was found dead the following month.)

• In 1968, “2001: A Space Odyssey,” the groundbreaking science-fiction film epic produced and directed

by Stanley Kubrick and starring Keir Dullea and Gary Lockwood, had its world premiere in Washington, DC. • In 2005, Pope John Paul II died in his Vatican apartment at age 84.

Today’s birthdays: Actor Christopher Meloni is 60. Singer Keren Woodward (Bananarama) is 60. Actor Pedro Pascal is 46. Actor

Michael Fassbender is 44. Actor Jesse Plemons is 33.

• Lamb is often

portable telephone was demonstrated for reporters on a New York City street corner as Motorola executive Martin Cooper called Joel S Engel of Bell Labs.

April 3

• In 1936, Bruno Hauptmann was electrocuted in Trenton, New Jersey, for the kidnapmurder of Charles Lindbergh, Jr. • In 1968, civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr delivered what turned out to be his final speech, telling a rally of striking sanitation workers in Memphis, Tennessee, that “I’ve been to the mountaintop” and “seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight that we, as a people, will get to the Promised Land!” (About 20 hours later, King was felled by an assassin’s bullet at the Lorraine Motel.)

• In 1973, the first handheld

• Easter eggs probably have a pagan origin.

The egg has been associated with pagan festivals celebrating spring. Christians celebrate eggs as a symbol of the resurrection of Jesus.

Also, eggs were once forbidden during Lent, so Easter marks a chance to eat them once more.

Today’s birthdays:

Actor Eric Braeden (“The Young and The Restless’) is 80. Singer Wayne Newton is 79. Singer Tony Orlando is 77. Actor Alec Baldwin is 63. Actor David Hyde Pierce is 62. Comedian-actor Eddie Murphy is 60. Actor Jennie Garth is 49.

Actor Adam Scott is 48. Actor Matthew Goode is 43. Actor Cobie Smulders is 39.

April 4

• In 1818, Congress decided the flag of the United States would consist of 13 red and white stripes and 20 stars, with a new star to be added for every new state of the Union.

eaten at Easter Though it is in part because we refer to Jesus as the ‘Lamb of God’, it also dates back to the Passover. Jews continued the tradition of eating lamb after converting to Christianity in the early Church, it is thought.

• Painting eggs is thought to originate from the Ukraine It is a tradition called pysanka. Again, immigrants brought the tradition to the US. • How big is the world’s largest Easter egg?

It is called the Vegreville Egg and is 31ft tall, 18ft wide and weighs 5,000lbs, and can be found in Alberta, Canada.

• In 1917, the US.Senate voted 82-6 in favour of declaring war against Germany (the House followed suit two days later by a vote of 373-50).

• In 1968, civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr, 39, was shot and killed while standing on a balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee; his slaying was followed by a wave of rioting. Suspected gunman James Earl Ray later pleaded guilty to assassinating King, then spent the rest of his life claiming he’d been the victim of a setup.

Today’s birthdays: Recording

executive Clive Davis is 89. Actor Craig T Nelson is 77. Country singer Steve Gatlin (The Gatlin Brothers) is 70.Writer-producer David E Kelley is 65.

Actor Hugo Weaving is 61. Talk show host/comic Graham Norton is 58. Actor Robert Downey, Jr is 56. Singer Jill Scott is 49. Magician David Blaine is 48.

– The Associated Press

04 | The Tribune | Weekend

Thursday, April 1, 2021

interview

Sensei Mickey Munnings Being held up and robbed by five men forever changed the trajectory of Mickey’s life.

Today, he is a veteran on the local martial arts scene and his helping future fighters find their path. He tells Jeffarah Gibson all about the importance of learning to defend oneself.

I

n the 1970s, Mickey Munnings was leaving a chicken restaurant in Palm Dale one night when he was cornered by five men.

Outnumbered and on the edge, Mickey could do nothing while his wristwatch and wallet were taken by the men who immediately disappeared from the area.

“They appeared to be unarmed, but in that moment I did not know how to defend myself against them,” he said.

Mickey, who at the time had only dipped his toes into the martial arts, could not perform one move to prevent the outcome of the robbery. Had that same situation occurred today, however, he would be telling a different story.

“It would be a totally different situation. I’m presently a fifth-degree black belt,” he said.

To put it in simpler terms, Mickey would have been able to fight off the men with a few quick moves - just like in the movies.

While the incident was an unfortunate one, it motivated him to plunge into the world of martial arts, judo and jujitsu specifically.

It is his belief that everyone should know some form of self-defence considering the streetsare now more dangerous than they were in the ‘70s when he became the victim of a robbery.

“I think everyone should learn some form of self-defence, especially women.So, if someone comes to you and says, ‘Give me your purse’, or tries to take advantage of you in any way, you automatically panic or get afraid. That is because you do not know what to do when situations like this come up. If you are able to defend yourself and when that individual tries to take advantage,

you will have enough courage to stand up to them,” he said.

There was only one other occasion Mickey had to defend himself since being robbed almost 50 years ago.

“I was at a stag party and we were playing card games. My friend (who I attended the party with) was more interested in the alcohol. He was deliberately losing the game so he would have more to drink. I got upset, he swung at me and missed.

Someone then gave him a piece of wood or shovel and he swung at me again. When I recognised where this was going, I had to defend myself and that did not take very long,” he said.

Judo, which means “The Gentle Way or “Give Way”, is a Japanese martial art based on the ancient technique of jujutsu. Professor Jigoro Kano, who developed judo in 1882, had studied

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Thursday, April 1, 2021

SENSEI Mickey demonstrates a take down self-defence tactic

SENSEI Mickey demonstrates self-defence moves jujutsu and incorporated the best of this ancient technique into the new Kodokan Judo. In 1964, Judo became an official event in the Olympic Games.

Judo is mainly divided into two components: the throwing technique, using your hands, feet, body to throw your opponent, or the grappling technique, to hold your opponent down effectively.

As there are so many styles of fighting one studies in martial arts, Mickey said you never know exactly which move to break out when you’re in a situation where you have to defend yourself.

“You really do not think about the move you are going to use. It’s instinctual. You study all different styles of movement, but you never know what you are going to use until the particular time comes.

You are not going to stop and think, ‘I’m going to do this particular move’ , because everything happens so quickly,” he said.

Today, Mickey is a “sensei” (an honorific term shared in Japanese, Korean and Chinesefor teacher). He is the chief instructor of the Eastwood Judo Club located on Prince Charles Drive.

At the club, he has been churning out professional competitors, training those who desire to fight recreationally or want to learn how to defend themselves should they ever face a situation like that the one he was in. He trains students from age five to adulthood.

Mickey started judo and jujitsu in 1977 with Sensei Don Marlone. Years later, he trained with Sensei Khadijah El Shabazz. He has competed in numerous tournaments, both national and international, and placed second twice in the US Open Championship. He has attended several international seminars for both judo and jujitsu and has trained with numerous instructors.

THE EASTWOOD Judo Club trains students of all ages Mickey is a member of the Bahamas Judo Federation and the National Sport Judo Association.

He is also an affiliated with the USJA. Along with being a fifth-degree black belt sensei, Mickey is also a certified examiner.

The Eastwood Judo Club was founded in 2004 and started in his garage. However, growth was not taking place at the pace he wanted, so he moved out of his garage to the Seagrapes Shopping Plaza, where the studio operated from for 17 years. It has now moved on Prince Charles Drive.

And for Mickey a thriving club does not only boil down to the number of members, but the development of his students, who are his pride and joy.

“I have students who are training for the Pan American tournament at the moment. It has been going very well and we have been putting out some very talented students. Some of my students

have made it to the international level. We also have local tournaments where they participants do very well,” he said.

When new students walk through the doors of the club, Mickey said you can never be sure where the road will lead them.

“I always ask each person when they come through door whether they want to fight professionally or recreationally. And the common answer I get is ‘I don’t know’. As an instructor one may come with the intents of recreation, but if I see a lot of potential in my students it is my job to encourage them and pull that fear. It is my job help them through the next steps of what could be a successful path,” he said.

Mickey helps his students fight through the physical and mental challenges. Overall, he said, the discipline judo provides is profound and anyone can benefit from it.

28 ‘Old Mare Running’ is the title (7)

06 | The Tribune | Weekend

16policeman Oddity; 17 (5) Gruff; 22 Wonderful 24 Fifty hear20 about Mob.a Thursday, April composer (5)

G E t i Ml lou

Sudoku is a number-placing puzzle based on a 9x9 grid with several given numbers. The object is to place the numbers 1 to 9 in the empty squares so the each row, each column and each 3x3 box contains the same number only once. The difficulty level of the Conceptis Sudoku increases from Monday to Sunday

● The Target uses words in the main body of Chambers 21st Century Dictionary (1999 edition)

HOW many words of four letters or more can you make from the letters shown here? in making a word, each letter may be used once only. Each must contain the centre letter and there must be at least one nine-letter word. no plurals.

Verb forms ending in s permitted.

TODAY’S TARGET Good 15; very good 23; excellent 30 (or more). Solution tomorrow

Yesterday’s call 0907 181 2585 Sudoku for Answer today’s target solution *Calls cost 80p per minute plus your telephone company’s network access charge.

BATTLESHIPS CRYPTIC PUZZLE Across 1 Ill-fed maybe but satisfied (6) 4 Invite trouble for appearing in a satirical show (3,3,2) 9 I get in trouble but make light of the matter (6) 10 They lack coordination, these problem children (8) 12 Grown right out of garment (4) 13 The range of an American destroyer (5) 14 Indication there’s good starting in evil (4) 17 A hamper that’s packed for Easter for example? (7,5) 20 Confidence in the theatre (5,7) 23 Vegetable turning up in South Dakota (4) 24 Lofty but not upright (5) 25 Responsibility we can’t avoid? (4) 28 Greek hero is sick, gripped by pains (8) 29 Persia may give approval (6) 30 Arrests drunkard in setback - or drunkards (8) 31 Sailor has to obtain an objective (6)

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Yesterday’s Easy Solution

Down 1 Just willing to become an Across: 1 Loose, 4 Cabaret, 8 Act, 9 Ill-judged, 10 Swelter, easy prey (4,4) 11 Query, 13 Nuance, 15 Geneva, 2 Broadcasting band gives a 18 Maker, 19 Further, 21 Joan of Arc, 23 Dip, 24 Relieve, lingering farewell (4,4) 25 Rowdy.

3 Creatures having small feet Down: 1 Liaison, 2 On the rack, 3 Edict, 4 Celery, 5 Brusque, with a point at each end (4) 6 Rig, 7 Today, 12 Eye shadow, 5 Joined issue (7,5) 14 Corrode, 16 Atrophy, 17 Of 6 It’s true it’s about a hundred late, 18 Major, 20 Recur, 22 All. feet (4) 7 Acquire a lot of money like the croupier does (4,2) 8 Intentionally aggravating? (6) Yesterday’s Cryptic Solution 11 It’s assumed not to be for Across: 1 Rifle, 4 Silence, 8 Air, top dressing (12) 9 Overseers, 10 Hauteur, 15 Possibly beat a retreat (5) 11 Godly, 13 Shamus, 16 Out of bed making a fuss (5) 15 Ceased, 18 Obese, 19 Genteel, 21 Diversion, 23 Pet, 18 Fine punishment? (8) 24 Ratchet, 25 Shred.

19 A view of a probable Down: 1 Reaches, 2 Fortunate, 3 Elope, 4 Sherry, 5 Lasagne, customer (8) 6 Nee, 7 Essay, 12 Distemper, 21 Inclined to have a biased 14 Unearth, 16 Deleted, 17 Egoist, 18 Order, 20 Nines, view (6) 22 Vet. 22 Charges for plants (6) 26 Piece of jewellery applied to the ear perhaps (4) 27 A tune-up during the opera (4) Down Across 1 Acquire (4,2) 1 Arrogantly 4 Burn slowly confident (8) 6 7 8 without flame (8) 2 Multifarious (8) 9 Sailcloth (6) 3 Shaft of light (4) 10 Fabled island 5 Unemotional submerged by (6-2-4) sea (8) 6 Western US state 12 Subdued (4) (4) 13 Auctioneer’s 14 hammer (5) 7 Roundabout route 16 14 Change of (6) direction (4) 8 Rebellion (6) 17 Be the master 11 Rapidly achieve (4,3,5) 18 19 great profit (4,1,7) 20 Very remote place 15 Digress (5) (4,2,6) 16 Crookedly (5) 23 Pull with effort (4) 18 Preface (8) 24 Patch of oil on sea (5) 19 Great adulation 25 25 Transaction (4) (8) 28 Dauntless (8) 27 21 Small crustacean 29 Angry reply (6) (6) 30 Reputation 22 Push roughly (6) through 26 A special talent achievement (8) (4) 31 With 27 Fervour (4) pleasure (6)

EASY PUZZLE

FIND where the fleet of ships shown is hidden in the grid. The numbers to the right of and below the grid indicate how many of the squares in that row are filled in with ships or parts of ships. The ships do not touch each other, even diagonally. Some squares have been filled in to start you off.

Solution tomorrow 1

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THE ALPHABEAT

TARGET Best described as a number crossword, the task in Kakuro is to fill all of the empty squares, using numbers 1 to 9, so the sum of each horizontal block equals the number to its left, and the sum of each vertical block equals the number on its top. No number may be used in the same block more than once. The difficulty level of the Conceptis Kakuro increases from Monday to Sunday.

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O N R G 2021 G J E U S S D S

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3 x Destroyer

2 x cruiser

4 x submarine

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Ranks, Sals Solution tomorrow Sty, Cypher A 11 19 30 13 4 39 13 10 22 B C 7 21 4 3 13 40 6 36 31 D E 30 38 9 10 22 7 8 1 38 F G 9 35 12 19 4 31 27 34 32 H I 39 17 9 39 38 4 26 37 28 J K 26 6 10 37 27 38 19 23 11 L M 21 Yesterday’s 14 28 16 38 2 35 9 10 N Kakuro O 38 24 Answer 27 38 32 7 27 10 18 P Q 20 4 9 12 12 3 13 15 22 R S 20 21 6 13 11 23 3 24 17 T U 14 28 13 10 5 14 35 25 36 V W 16 32 8 28 24 39 37 8 5 X Y 3 34 4 13 14 33 20 14 7 Z 1

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Thursday, April 1, 2021

food GRILLED pork chops with honey dijon glaze

LEMON herbbacked salmon with cauliflower casserole

‘Chef Showdown’ to promote local farmers, green economy

By ALESHA CADET | Tribune Features Writer | acadet@tribunemedia.net

N

assau’s Showman e-Bistro is gearing up for an exciting event this Saturday, which they hope will help boost the economy.

The team is hosting a contest to showcase talented individuals from the culinary, media and music industries.

Set for the Farmers Market on Gladstone Road, the contest will see local media personalities trade in the heat of the spotlight for the heat of the kitchen as they compete for the chance to win bragging rights and prizes.

The media personalities will each be paired with a Showman chef ambassador. And to add another interesting twist, the Showman organisation has invited University of the Bahamas Culinary Arts students to participate and be paired with the individuals as well.

“Showman e-Bistro is also a strong supporter of the green economy in the Bahamas, and we are confident that this event will not only support the same, but also highlight the importance

of self-sufficiency and sustainability in agriculture. Our aim is to give greater exposure to the Farmers Market, the importance of buying Bahamian, understanding the benefits of us using fresh, locally grown products,” said Ray Morrison, Showman e-Bistro director of public relations.

“Additionally, we want to shine a bright light on and showcase up-andcoming culinarians and seasoned chefs, and also those of the performing arts.

The vendors at the market will receive a direct capital investment, therefore Showman will not only be supporting each business, but the market as a whole. We hope that having the major media outlets participating will not only provide coverage of the event, but cause a continuation of the conversation on the need to support local farmers, culinarians and performing artists by creating unique and innovative platforms and events such as this.”

This Saturday’s ‘Chef Showdown: Media Edition’ will be streamed live on the Showman e-Bistro social media

platforms, Facebook and Instagram.

DJs, television anchors, radio personalities and journalists will also be taking part and sharpening their foodie skills. An expected highlight will be the performances from various artists from The Black Box Live concert series.

“We are proud to announce the participation of three of our four chef ambassadors who will be competing, they are: Bodine Johnson of “Bodine’s Pot”, Elli Pinder from “Eating with Elli”, and Anecia Davis of “Boonappleteet”. Competitors will have a half hour to shop, half an hour to plan and an hour to cook a three-course meal of their choosing, but rest assured there will be some exciting twists and turns along the way,” said Mr Morrison.

The Showman e-Bistro was initially launched with the intention to provide specialised meal kits aimed to feed a family of up to five for a week and offer sponsorship for those who are in a position to help the less fortune. This concept, similar to meal kit services like Hello Fresh and Home Chef in the

ENTERTAINER Bodine Johnson will serve as one of the chef ambassadors

United States, has grown to implement initiatives like the “What’s in Your Box” –meal kits with country themes and featured recipe items from places like Haiti, India, Trinidad, Italy and Jamaica.

“We initially started our services with a view to providing a safe, wholesome, affordable meal delivery option for our customers. This quickly exploded in providing a similar option for Hands for Hunger, who are a part of the Government Food Tasks Force.

As they employed our services, this translated into us delivering some 6,000 plus meal kits per week to Bahamians here in the western part of New Providence. This spelled tremendous growth for our business and hence we have now expanded our operation to #85 Mackey Street, with a view to opening a new branch of our business,” said Mr Morrison.

10 | The Tribune | Weekend

Thursday, April 1, 2021

food

Traditional French cuisine meets local seafood at Café Boulud

By ALESHA CADET | Tribune Features Writer | acadet@tribunemedia.net

W

ith locations in New York City, Palm Beach and Toronto, Café Boulud seeks to both celebrate the glamour associated with traditional French cuisine as well as offer the warm hospitality of a neighbourhood café.

Now, the brand has made a new home on the shores of the Bahamas with its recent opening at Rosewood Baha Mar. Led by internationally renowned Chef Daniel Boulud, the menu is inspired by Boulud’s four culinary muses -La Tradition (classics and country cooking); La Saison (spring flavours), La Mer (inspired by seafood dishes), and Le Voyage (world cuisine). The Baha Mar menu especially aims to highlight

AGNOLOTTI a la ricotta

the seasonality of local Caribbean Chef Boulud said launching the ingredients.

Bahamas location has offered a In an interview with Tribune great opportunity for him to explore Caribbean flavours and discover new Weekend, Chef Boulud explained ways to serve some of his favourite how the partnership between Café dishes. He believes what makes his Boulud and Rosewood has been dishes one-of-a-kind is the combinamany years in the making. tion of experience in the tropical “I have two restaurants in South region of Florida blended with the Florida, and the Bahamas is a very Bahamian way of life. short distance away. We understand “We are passionate professionals latitude and how that affects the who care about the well-being and different flavours and menu items. safety of our guests and staff while Rosewood Baha Mar, with its high upholding the consistency of our attention to detail and quality, was a cuisine and service to our reputation perfect pairing for Café Boulud,” he at the Rosewood and Café Boulud,” said. he said.

As with all of his restaurants, Chef Restaurant guests, including Boulud said he wants this newest local residents and outside guests venue to feel warm and inviting, are required to obtain a negative casual yet refined, with great hosCOVID-19 rapid antigen test no pitality. Here, with the Bahamian more than five days prior to a coninfluences, he believes guests can firmed restaurant reservation date. expect a very distinct, a very unique Testing can take place either directly experience. on-property at Baha Mar’s test“We have kept the beautiful ing facilities or at a local approved woodwork, stonework, as well as the testing site. A sum of $16.80 will leather banquettes, and enriched the be rebated from the restaurant bill atmosphere with art of local artists. if diners opt to test at Baha Mar The dining room has stayed true to directly.

Rosewood Baha Mar’s effortless and relaxed island feel. Rosewood Baha Mar has accounted for appropriate social distancing through further spacing between each table and an additional plexiglass has been added to the banquet in the middle of the dining hall at Café Boulud.

All guests are required to wear face coverings in public areas and when moving around the restaurant as well,” said Chef Boulud.

The menu features some of the classic French dishes synonymous with Chef Boulud’s seasonal cooking, while occasionally showcasing local vegetables and seafood, including red snapper, lobster, conch, and even cochon de lait. Among his signature dishes are Tournedos Rossini, a beef tenderloin served with foie gras, spinach, pomme dauphine and a black truffle sauce; the king crab with local mango, cucumber, mint and coriander, and the citrus cured hamachi served with hearts of palm, watermelon, Fresno peppers and CHEF Daniel Boulud shiso.

The Tribune | Weekend | 11

Thursday, April 1, 2021

history A NASSAU cricket team from around 1915: (standing l-r) Victor Saunders, Frank Burnside, John McKinney (18811931), George Weech, Eric Solomon (1880-1961); (middle row kneeling l-r) A Kenneth Solomon, Hugh deGlanville, Reginald deGlanville, Howard (no last name given); Front right reclining is John Alday Bethel (18761949).

‘Cricket, lovely cricket’ – The national game of the Bahamas

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hen I sailed a respected cricket-playing colony/ away to boardnation. ing school in I was introduced to cricket in the England, I had summer of 1950 and learned to love hardly heard the game, never playing it well, but mention of the word cricket, loving to be a spectator, lying in the and of course did not know grass. Of course, my schoolmates that cricket is the national brainwashed me into thinking that sport of the Bahamas. This was Englishmen were the best cricketconfirmed to me by my friend, ers in the world. I felt that, to them, Diane Phillips, in a 2018 article cricket was not just a sport, but a in The Tribune that attracted way of life. It seemed to be an Engmy attention: “Officially, it is lish game, not Scottish, not Welsh, against the law in the Bahamas not Irish (neither North nor South), to sleep while reversing. No though each of those countries kidding. Officially, there is a played cricket and Glamorgan (in whole range of stuff that is, Wales) had a very good team. Perwell, official - but not necessarhaps surprisingly, it was the leading ily correct, like having cricket sport in Germany from 1858 up to FORGOTTEN FACTS as our national sport.”

World War I and is still played today.

Cricket was introduced to Like most Bahamians, I never the Bahamas by English expatriates, who brought think of myself as a West Indian, but when the the sport with them, and the arrival of West West Indies team arrived in England to play test Indians (mostly from Barbados) inductees into the matches against England, it was easy for me to Bahamas Police Force had a beneficial effect on identify with players from my part of the world, so Bahamian cricket, but the Bahamas never became I became (and still am) a firm supporter of West

PAUL C ARANHA

Indian cricket, even though they had never beaten England.

England won the first test match, but in the second test, at Lord’s in London, thanks to the batting of Clyde Walcott, Everton Weekes and Frank Worrall, and the superb bowling of Sonny Ramadhin and Alf Valentine, the West Indies recorded their first ever test victory in England, and it was commemorated in the famous Victory Calypso song (to be found on YouTube by searching for ‘Lord Beginner, Victory Test Match’).

The West Indies’ success continued, and they won the third and fourth tests, sealing their first series victory.

The first ever international cricket match was played in 1844, but if you were to ask someone to name the two countries who played in it, the chances are that they do not know that it was played at the St George’s Cricket Club in New York, between the United States and Canada.

PS: If you like a ‘full English breakfast’, I recommend the Cricket Club across the street from Nassau’s Fish Fry. They serve it all day.

• For questions and comments, send an e-mail to islandairman@gmail.com

12 | The Tribune | Weekend

Thursday, April 1, 2021

literary lives – Georgette Heyer

Rediscovering a queen of Regency romance Sir Christopher Ondaatje marvels at the English novelist and short story writer whose historical and detective fiction novels sold in ever increasing numbers for four decades – despite her refusal to grant any interviews. strike in the United Kingdom – thus receiving no newspaper coverage, reviews or advertising.

However, the book sold 190,000 copies and Heyer noticed that the lack of publicity had not harmed the novel’s sales. Thereafter Heyer, for the rest of her life, refused to promote her books or to give any interviews – even though encouraged to do so by her publishers.

“I think myself I ought to be shot for writing such nonsense ... But it’s unquestionably good escapist literature and I think I should rather like it if I were sitting in an air-raid shelter or recovering from flu.”

– Georgette Heyer Georgette Heyer was born on August 16, 1902 in Wimbledon, London. She was named after her father George Heyer. Her mother, Sylvia Watkins Heyer, studied cello and piano at the Royal College of Music. Her paternal grandfather emigrated from Russia, while her maternal grandparents owned tugboats on the River Thames. She was the eldest of three children. Her family lived in Paris for the early part of her life but returned to England at the outbreak of World War I in 1914.

Her father served as a requisitions officer for the British Army in France. He left the army in 1920 with the rank of captain, after which he taught at King’s College, London.

“Few novelists have resisted their publishers’ publicity departments more doughtily than Georgette Heyer. Over a career of some fifty years, sixty volumes and sales in the countless millions, she gave not a single interview. She never hung out with fellow authors – ‘inkies’, as she called them (she herself wore white gloves on social occasions) – and not on account of shyness. She had a visceral distaste for the nauseating falsities of book promotion and, as her heroines would have put it, ‘trade’ – even the book trade that had made her so enviably rich.”

– John Sutherland Lives of the Novelists, (2011)

Although the family’s surname was pronounced “higher”, the advent of war led her father to change the pronunciation to “hair”, so that the family would not be mistaken for Germans.

When Heyer was 17 she wrote a serial story to entertain her younger brother Boris who suffered from haemophilia. Her father was impressed with her story and told her to prepare it for publication. His agent found a publisher for the book The Black Moth (1921) about the adventures of a young man who took responsibility for his brother’s card cheating. Jane Aiken Hodge, Georgette Heyer’s biographer, has stated that this early novel had many of the elements in all subsequent Heyer novels: “the saturnine male lead, the marriage in danger, the extravagant wife, and the group of idle, entertaining young men. In 1922, one of Heyer’s short stories, “A Proposal to Cicely”, was published in Happy Magazine.

Heyer met George Ronald Rougier in 1920 when Rougier was studying at the Royal School of Mines to become a mining engineer. They married in 1925 shortly after her father died of a heart attack while playing a game of tennis with her fiancé. By then Heyer had written four more books – all of which had surprisingly good sales.

GEORGETTE Heyer (1902 - 1974) was extremely private despite being a prolific author “When fate has got it in for you, there is no limit to what you may have to put up with.”

– Georgette Heyer When Heyer’s father died in 1925 he left no money or pension. Heyer then assumed complete financial responsibility for her brothers who were now aged 19 and 14.

In October 1925, shortly after their marriage, Ronald Rougier was sent to work in the Caucasus Mountains in Russia – mainly because he had learned the language as a child. Heyer stayed at home and continued to write. In 1926, she released These Old Shades, which focused more on personal relationship than adventure, and is the story of the Duke of Avon who courts his own ward.

The book appeared in the middle of a general

Rougier returned home in the summer of 1926, but within months he was sent to Tanganyika in East Africa. Heyer joined him there the following year. They lived in a hut made of elephant grass located in the bush. Heyer was the first white woman her servants had even seen. While in Tanganyika, Heyer wrote The Masqueraders (1928) – a book set in 1745 following the romantic adventures of siblings who pretend to be of the opposite sex in order to protect their families – all former Jacobites. She also wrote of her adventures, titled The Horned Bead of Africa, which was published by the newspaper The Sphere in 1929.

Heyer’s books relied on exhaustive research which put her books on a higher level than other romance authors. Her books were inspired by Jane Austen, whose novels were set in the same era. Some reviewers, like Lilian Robinson, criticised Heyer’s passion for the specific fact without concern for its significance, but other authors, like A S Byatt, believed Heyer’s awareness of atmosphere – both of the minutest details of the social pursuits of her leisured classes, and the emotional structure behind the fiction it produced – was her greatest asset.

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Thursday, April 1, 2021

the upper middle class Englishwoman of that age – before 1940. Her thrillers were known for their wit and comedy as well as their well-woven plots.

At the outbreak of the Second World War the Rougier family moved first to Brighton and then to Hove, so that Rougier could easily commute to London for his legal work. In 1940, they sent their son to a preparatory school creating an additional expense. The Blitz bombing of 1940/41 disrupted train travel in Britain, prompting Heyer and her family to move to London so that Rougier would be closer to his work. He did not earn much money and paper rationing during the war caused lower sales of Heyer’s books. To meet expenses she sold the Commonwealth rights for These Old Shades, Devil’s Club and Regency Buck to her publisher, Heinemann, for £750. She reviewed books, and allowed her novels to be serialised in Women’s Journal before they were published as hard-cover books. But she kept writing, and increased revenue kept coming in.

In 1928, Heyer followed her husband to Macedonia, and very nearly died when the local dentist messed up an anaesthetic dose. She convinced her husband to return to England before starting a family. The following year Rougier left his job, resulting in Heyer being the main source of family revenue. Their son Richard was born in 1932. After a few bad commercial ventures, one of which involved running a gas, coke and lighting company, Rougier purchased a sports shop in Horsham with borrowed money. Heyer’s brother lived above the shop and helped out with the shop.

“The only way to do great work is to love what you do.”

– Georgette Heyer Heyer’s early works were romance novels set before 1800, but then in 1935 she published Regency Buck – her first novel set in the Regency period (1752-1825). The best-selling novel set the stage for her Regency romances – all set entirely in the world of the wealthy upper class. Very little was mentioned of poverty, religion or politics.

“But it is only in epic tragedies that gloom is unrelieved. In real life tragedy and comedy are so intermingled that when one is most wretched ridiculous things happen to make one laugh in spite of oneself.”

– Georgette Heyer

The money rolled in and Heyer convinced her husband to study law with the aim of becoming a barrister. She paid and he eventually qualified, eventually becoming a QC in 1959.

In 1937, Heyer produced An Infamous Army – a Waterloo novel which many thought was her best book. The book, a source of pride to her, came to be prescribed reading in the war history course at Sandhurst. Another respected book was The Spanish Bride (1940), a novel about the Peninsula War.

“These Old Shades” (1926) sold extremely well despite the lack of promotion

“There seems to have been a mysterious domestic crisis which casts a palpable shadow over Heyer’s wartime works. The Rougiers moved to the select apartment block, the Albany in Piccadilly – where they lived elegantly, expensively and very privately. Not even the most addicted admirer of her work would know her married name – under which she went into society – until they read it in the obituaries ... most of those who met Mrs Rougier socially had no idea she wrote novels.”

– John Sutherland Lives of the Novelists, (2011) A prolific writer, Heyer added thrillers to her romance novels. The romances usually sold 115,000 copies, while her thrillers sold about 16,000 copies. Her husband was involved in much of her writing, reading proofs of her historical romances, and providing plots for her thrillers and detective stories – which specialised in upperclass family murders. Her thrillers and detective stories were never as popular as those of Dorothy L Sayers or Agatha Christie, and exhibited a distinct snobbery towards foreigners and the lower classes. However, the critic Eric Routley maintains that Heyer “had a quite remarkable gift for reproducing the brittle and ironic conversation of

In 1950, Heyer formed a limited liability company, Heron Enterprises, to minimise her tax liability. Royalties of new titles would be paid to the company, and she would receive a salary and pay directors’ fees to her family. She would continue to receive royalties from her old titles and foreign titles. United States royalties would be paid to her mother. A good scheme. However, tax inspectors discovered that Heyer was taking out too much money from the company and she was levied with an extra tax bill. She wrote two articles “Books about the Brontës” and “How to be a Literary Writer” – published in Punch – to pay off the tax debt.

“I’m getting so tired of writing books for the benefit of the Treasury and I can’t tell you how utterly I resent the squandering of my money on such fatuous things as Education and Making Life Easy and Luxurious for so-called workers.”

– Georgette Heyer In 1950, Heyer began what she considered her “magnum opus” – a trilogy of the House of Lancaster between 1393 and 1435. She thought it would take her five years, but she was constantly interrupted by impatient readers clamouring for her Regency romance books and further demands from the tax authorities. Volume One of the series My Lord John was eventually published after she died. She continued to be plagued by tax inspectors who revealed that she owed them a further £20,000. As a result, she fired her accountants and the Rights to Black Sheep, her newest book, were issued to her personally.

“The Black Moth”, Heyer’s first novel, published in 1921

Heyer’s new accountants urged Heyer to abandon Heron Enterprises, so after two years

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HEYER with (l-f) her husband Ronald Rougier, her brother Boris Heyer and her son Richard Rougier

A SCENE set in Regency England, similar to those described in Heyer’s historical romances. (Image: John Pettie’s ‘Two Strings to her Bow’) she agreed to sell the company to Booker-McConnell, which already owned the rights to the estates of Ian Fleming and Agatha Christie. She received £85,000 for the rights to the 17 titles owned by the company, and was taxed at the lower capital transfer rate.

“Oh Christ! Why did I have to be born into this filthy age?”

– Georgette Heyer

Heyer had no time for contemporary fiction which she classed as “kitchen sinks and perverts”, and although a Conservative voter, was disgusted by their Albany neighbour Edward “Ted” Heath – the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1970 to 1974. She loathed most of the politicians in England with the possible exception of Enoch Powell a rabid racist.

As Heyer’s popularity increased, other authors began imitating. In

GEORGETTE Heyer in 1970

1950, one of her readers pointed out to her that Barbara Cartland had reused names, character traits, plots and paraphrased descriptions from her books – particularly A Hazard of Hearts which took characters from Friday’s Child and The Knave of Hearts. Heyer prepared a detailed analysis of the alleged plagiarism for her solicitors, but the case never went to court. However, the copying stopped. In 1961, other similarities were found in the works of Kathleen Lindsay, particularly Winsome Lass.

Heyer wrote to Lindsay’s publisher to complain. Her lawyers recommended an injunction, but Heyer refused to sue.

“I feel an overwhelming interest in the methods of daylight abduction employed by modern youth.”

– Georgette Heyer As Heyer aged she was disabled by frequent health problems. In 1964, she had surgery to remove a kidney stone. It took her nearly a year to fully recover – but she indomitably continued to write, producing a novel a year, and sometimes two. They remained in print – particularly after the paperback revolution of the 1960s. In good years, her earnings exceeded £70,000.

In 1973, she suffered a slight stroke, and spent three weeks in a nursing home. When her brother Boris died later that year she was too ill to travel to his funeral. She suffered another stroke in February 1974. Three months later she was diagnosed with lung cancer – the result of smoking over 60 to 80 corktipped cigarettes every day.

Georgette Heyer died on July 4, 1974 with an estate valued at £68,989. It was the first time her many literary fans learned about her married name.

Ronald Rougier died a short while after his wife. Their son Richard went on to become a famously witty judge.

• Sir Christopher Ondaatje is the author of The Last Colonial.

He acknowledges that he has quoted liberally from Wikipedia; The Private World of Georgette Heyer (1984) by Jane Aiken Hodge; Georgette Heyer: A Critical Retrospective (2001) by Mary Fahnestock-Thomas; and The Lives of the Novelists (2011) by John Sutherland.

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Thursday, April 1, 2021

animals

Dogs and crime

By KIM ARANHA Animal Matters

I

t is a very unfortunate and sadly frequent fact of life that many people who dabble in crime own big, strong dogs to act as their “bodyguards”.

Often these dogs are pit bulls, the “macho” dog of choice. Stocky and strong, they have a fierce persona when seen from a distance. especially when you have never met the individual dog.

Some of the sweetest, soppiest and most lovable dogs in the whole world are pit bulls – the exact same breed that so many people fear. I know “pitties” who are terrific family dogs and snuggle up to the kids and help them learn to walk, allowing the toddler to lean on them as they navigate around the house. And then I know “pitties” that you can’t get close to.

They make me sad. I wonder what happened to them when they were little to become so fierce. It is the same with most breeds; depending how you bring up a dog and how you condition him to react to various situations is how he behaves.

Most dogs are predisposed to be man’s buddy. Dogs are classified as companion animals; man’s best friend.

Some breeds are more goofy and loving than others, but on the whole all dogs thrive in good healthy relationships with humans. However, if they have not been given the affection they crave in puppyhood, if they have been mistreated, then that poor scared little puppy can grow up to be an aggressive and disagreeable dog… let’s face it, much like what could (and does) occur with humans under the same circumstances.

People who get up to nefarious activities like to surround themselves with layers of protection. Alas, one of those layers is dogs, and nowadays the pit bull is the dog of choice.

When I was a child the two breeds used predominantly as guard and

protection dogs were German Shepherds (Alsatians) and the Doberman, followed closely be the Rottweiler. The pit bull hadn’t been “discovered” yet.

The Doberman was the dog of choice for Nazi Germany, so everybody wanted a mean, lean, killing machine. How wrong they were, as we see many happy families with their Dobermans playing with the kids. But don’t get me wrong, a Doberman trained as an attack dog can be a formidable opponent.

The pit bull derives from the Staffordshire bull terrier of old, an English breed from Birmingham and sadly used in the old days for fighting. Then came the American bully, which is very muscular and has

a large head; certainly not built for speed or beauty.

The American bully has five different variations of sizes accepted by the American Kennel Club. And then of course there is the bully pit dog, which is considered an excellent choice for a family dog.

If you are confused with the myriad of varieties, you are not alone. I can’t keep track, but what I do know quite definitely is that dogs are not born mean; it’s what humans show them.

We have a very difficult situation here in the Bahamas because when the police conduct a raid on a house, there is invariably more than one pit bull in that yard.

The police, of course, can’t phone ahead of time and ask the suspects to

put up their dogs before the raid, so these poor animals are the first to be put at risk. It doesn’t matter if they have been trained to attack or not, just seeing a dog lunging towards them is going to make the police shoot.

It’s just not fair that the animal usually gets the first bullet. It’s difficult to say under which circumstances the police should not shoot.

If they feel that their safety is at risk then they are entitled to protect themselves. Could they use a stun gun or rubber bullets? Probably, but what if the criminal is behind the dog with a loaded gun shooting, does the policeman have time to change arms?

The one thing that is indefensible is if dogs that are tied with a chain or caged are shot; there is no scenario that makes that acceptable ever.

Every dog will defend his property, that’s his job description. So how do we protect our own pets if a law enforcement officer takes it upon him or herself to enter our yard without warning, whatever the justification? My dogs would undoubtedly be on the defensive and attack, so then do they then get shot? But why was law enforcement in my garden in the first place?

This is a huge problem for pet owners and one that is becoming all too common and needs to be addressed very seriously. The innocent victims are the dogs.

pet of the week

Ebullient Elspeth

PHOTO/Linda Gill-Aranha

By THE BAHAMAS HUMANE SOCIETY

F

ive-month-old Elspeth isn’t quite sure why her four siblings were adopted before her.

She’s friendly, playful, and likes sharing her space with the other pups at the Bahamas Humane Society. Maybe the right person just hasn’t come along as yet. Perhaps that person is you! Have you

been looking for a pretty young lady to join your family? If so, Elspeth may be the perfect fit. Call the

BHS at 323-5138 for more information or come in to say hello. Elspeth looks forward to meeting you.

• Pennies, pennies, pennies! They ceased being legal currency on December 31, 2020. What better way to shift them out of your house than to donate them to the BHS? There are several dropoff points around town (BHS, Fox Hill Nursery, Captain’s Table, Sandyport Medical Centre, to name a few). Got buckets worth? Call 323-5138 to arrange a pick-up.

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gardening

Time to step it up!

L

ate March and early April is the time for transplanting. Whether a plant is indoors or outdoors, if it is in a container then now is the perfect time to step it up a size. As we are lucky to live where we essentially have a year-round growing season (for most perennial or woody material), it means that we can plant all year long. Transplanting is another story though.

Most plants are hitting a higher gear of growth rate now that March is history and April is here. For container grown plants that have been growing for a year or more in a container especially (this can apply also to plants that are fast growing that have been in a container for a lesser amount of time), they have most likely filled that container and they are seeking more root space.

If you (gently) pull a plant out of the pot that it is growing in, and the pot is more than half filled with roots, that signals that there are two options to keep the plant growing at its optimum potential.

The first is to transplant into a larger container, I’ll come back to this later. The second option is to trim the roots. If, for example, a plant is indoors or on a patio in an expensive planter, and it is desired to keep that plant in that container then root pruning becomes the option to choose. It may not be feasible to acquire a larger planter, pot, or container or it may be that the plant and pot are large enough to fill a space.

These are two reasons (there are more, but I hope you get the point) to do some root pruning. What do I mean by “root pruning”? Just as we prune (cut back, or trim) some plants branches and leaves, well, what happens above is a result of what happens below. If a plant is filling more than half of the container with roots it is on it’s way to being rootbound, and when plants get rootbound they tend to in a sense, strangle themselves, and they can begin to decline as the roots have no more space to grow.

I choose root pruning over transplanting when I want to keep a plant in the same container or pot size (this is the case with a lot of indoor plants as often they have to fit within

a defined space). To effectively root prune without causing too much damage, it helps to loosen the roots a little (which becomes more difficult the more rootbound it is), and then

cut up to a third of the roots off, at the bottom third of the root ball.

Put some fresh planting media into the bottom of the pot, and put the plant back into the same container, with fresh media around the sides and on top, give them a dose of a complete fertilizer, and bam! Root pruning complete, and it can go for another year or three (or more) until the process gets repeated. Transplanting is used when a plant is to be grown larger without using a larger pot. Plants can only grow as large as the pot they are in will let them… they are constrained by being contained. Root pruning allows a plant to grow a little larger in a given sized pot, but to achieve the full potential of a plant that wants to grow larger, transplanting is the option.

For example, palms that continue to grow, or trees that need to get to a certain size before flowering or fruiting.

A fruit tree will struggle if it is kept in a pot that is too small, for

example. Many outdoor plants are best to be stepped up into larger pots every year or three (all things depending). The pot size will dictate the amount of biomass (leaf) produced. So, if you are growing palms or fruit trees, flowering trees or large shrubs in containers, and they seem to be struggling, often these example types of plants will perform far better when placed into larger containers. It may take some getting to know the plants being grown to decide as to whether to root prune or to transplant. Whichever is chosen, now is the perfect time to get going on it. Get out there and experiment, ask questions, share your tips and tricks, grow on! As always, I wish you happy gardening.

• Adam Boorman is the nursery manager at the Fox Hill Nursery.

You can contact him with any questions you may have, or topics you would like to see discussed, at gardening242@gmail.com.