Friday, July 16, 2021
books interview art gardening history music puzzles animals
Weekend
The original influencer Pages 12+13
Making a splash Fluid art catches the eye
pgs 08 +09
02 | The Tribune | Weekend
Friday, July 16, 2021
books
Bahamian author tops new release charts on Amazon By JEFFARAH GIBSON | Tribune Features Writer | jgibson@tribunemedia.net
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AHAMIAN author B Jane Turnquest saw not one, but two of her books shoot to the number one spot on the Amazon charts following their Independence Day release last week. “The Loot on Cute” topped the charts of new releases in the categories Children’s Literary Criticism, Children’s Social Activism & Volunteering, Children’s Study Aids and Children’s Poetry. Her second book, “Caerwyn and the Heart of the Sea”, also topped the new release charts in the Children’s Nonfiction Explore the World, Children’s Pirate Action & Adventure categories. “When you write with an almost antiquated style that is heavily influenced by the Victorian era and undertones of Christianity for mainstream consumption, and readers enjoy what you have daringly produce, it feels like you’re am living your purpose – in short, it is fulfilling,” the author told Tribune Weekend about her new-found success. “The Loot on Cute” features papers on proprieties in rhythmic prose. It is mainly a collection of maxims for girls on character-building, internal appeal and beauty. The book also includes party theme ideas and Victorian style colouring pages, which the author is excited for Bahamian girls to fill in with their own varied, melanated hues. This book was inspired by the author’s niece, Kayt Davis, who Ms Turnquest explained, had to be schooled for her an overall improvement of attitude. The advice worked and Kayt was awarded a sort of graduation for her birthday party (a tea party etiquette class for which she was attired in a garden summer dress and enjoyed nibbling on finger sandwiches and pastries}. The next book, “Caerwyn and
the Heart of the Sea” has a “beachy feel”, she said “It is a delightful summer read for boys and girls, featuring many Bahamian elements: our islands’ names... a new Bahamian mythical character, names like Gambier, Delaporte, Biggety Jook, Carmichael, Montagu, Lucaya and such,” she said. The tone of the book can be described as “dreamy” and its reminiscent of a popular children’s book. The story owes some of its wild and whimsical elements to the beloved “Peter Pan”. “Pirates and mermaids, water fairies, and pink sand in lieu of fairy dust, a fanciful story in a story, fantasy lore mixed with contemporary bits,” she said.
She feels her books were a hit due to a combination of things. “What made the books a hit is first of all, hard work, then added to this was original content, creative marketing and networking, hiring skilled editors, and having appealing and professional covers. Though self-published, I would never want readers to know the difference and always aim to have the quality of output, be able to be shelved (alongside) the big publishing houses,” she said. Ms Turnquest is very proud of her Bahamian heritage, always “seasoning” her writing with all things Bahamian. She is currently working on the boy’s version of “The Loot on Cute”, called “Amount to What Counts”, as well as her second Bahamian romance, “When The Sapodillas Drop.” Both of her newest books are available on Amazon. Along with her other books, these will also be widely distributed and available at Barnes and Nobles, Walmart, Target and various bookstores through the US and UK.
The Tribune | Weekend | 03
Friday, July 16, 2021
Weekend Inside
My Perfect Bahamian Weekend Rico Neely
Co-founder of ‘Cooking with Nuncy’ drink or ice cold Kalik. If I’m winding down after a long, stressful day of work, wine is my drink of choice, and if I’m out and about on the town dining alone or with some friends, a light cocktail with not too much alcohol is what’s calling my name.”
Interview 4 – 5
Racquel Minns wants to start a movement of affirmation. First step, a self-help book to guide girls and women towards hitting their targets
Puzzles 6 Art 7- 9
Deime Ubani approaches the abstract, sometimes accompanied with a ‘Beer for Breakfast’; plus, a new boutique gallery and store explores fluid art
Q: What are you binge-watching? “I’m binge-watching the Hunger Games for the millionth time.”
Music 10
Local teen takes listeners on a personal journey with new EP
Books 11
New page-turners released this week Q: Beach or sofa? “Could I put the sofa on the beach? I love my sofa like cooked food.”
Literary Lives 12 – 13
The original celebrity influencer
Forgotten Facts 14
A stroll down memory lane
Animals 15
Summer sounds, plus Pet of the Week
Gardening 16
The pros and cons of the global garden
Cover by Racardo Thomas bringing an end to the threecentury-old Romanov dynasty. •In 1945, the United States detonates the first atomic bomb in a test at Alamogordo, New Mexico, the result of the Manhattan Project.
THE ROMANOVS, the Russian Imperial family, were executed in 1918
THIS WEEKEND IN HISTORY July 16
•In 1918, in Yekaterinburg, Russia, Czar Nicholas II and his family – his wife, Empress Alexandra, and their five children: Olga, Tatiana, Maria, Anastasia, and Alexei – are executed by the Bolsheviks,
•In 1995, Amazon officially opens for business as an online bookseller. Within a month, the fledgling retailer had shipped books to all 50 US states and to 45 countries.
July 17
• In 1763, John Jacob Astor, the German-American founder of a renowned family of capitalists, business leaders, and philanthropists, is born in Waldorf, Germany. Today, the luxury hotel Walfdorf-Astoria – now owned by Hilton Worldwide – still reflects the family’s origins. The original Waldorf-Astoria was situated on Astor family properties along Fifth Avenue but was demolished in 1929 to make way
07
Q: Rum, wine, Kalik or a cocktail? “On a nice hot summer beach day, you can never go wrong with a nice refreshing rum
for the Empire State Building. •1918, the Carpathia, the ocean liner that rescued the survivors of the Titanic in 1912, was sunk by a German U-boat during World War I. •In 1955, Disneyland, an amusement park featuring attractions based on the creations of entrepreneur and animator Walt Disney, opened in Anaheim, California. It is the only theme park designed and built to completion under the direct supervision of Walt Disney.
July 18
• In 64 AD, the Great Fire of Rome begins under Emperor Nero. The fire began in the merchant shops around Rome’s chariot stadium, Circus Maximus, After six days, the fire was brought under control, but before the damage could be assessed, the fire reignited and burned for another three days. Hundreds died
Q: If you had to quarantine with a celebrity, who would it be and why? “I’d want to be with Jesus, ha-ha...But seriously though, I’d want to be quarantined with Dr Cindy Trimm. She has served me as a virtual mentor since being in middle school. I feel like I would learn a lot from her ‘Kingdom Mindset’.” Q: If you could take a COVID-free trip, where would you go? “Exuma, of course. Aside from the unfortunate fact that I’ve never visited before, it’s a literal heaven on earth.”
and three of the city’s 14 districts were completely wiped out. •In 1925, Adolf Hitler publishes Volume One of “Mein Kampf” (“My Struggle”) – an autobiographical manifesto that outlines his future plans for the Third Reich. The book’s original title was “Four and a Half Years of Struggle Against Lies, Stupidity and Cowardice”. • In 1817, the famous English novelist Jane Austen, who wrote such classics as “Sense and Sensibility” (1811) and “Pride and Prejudice” (1813), dies in Winchester, Hampshire, at age 41. Many historians believe the cause was Addison’s disease, which affects the adrenal glands and creates problems with blood pressure and heart function. But there are several other theories, including tuberculosis, a form of cancer, or even accidental arsenic poisoning, which was not uncommon at the time.
04 | The Tribune | Weekend
Friday, July 16, 2021
interview
Racquel Minns Determined to help girls and women hit the targets they are aiming for, this mentor-turned-author is passionate about starting a movement that’s all about positive affirmation. To this end, she tells Cara Hunt, she has recently released a book to help readers obtain a positive outlook on life.
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acquel Minns is on a mission to inspire women to live their best lives through affirmation and the act of positive thinking. Although she has always dedicated her time and talents to working with young people, she says that the COVID lockdowns inspired her to expand her efforts even further to ultimately create the AIM Her brand. Racquel hopes AIM, which stands for “affirm, inspire and motivate”, will become a positive movement in the country, one which can help Bahamian women reach their full potential. The first project she tackled under the AIM umbrella was penning her first self-help book, “AFFIRM Her”, containing a month’s worth of daily affirmations. “I have always been a youth teacher and mentor, which I love, and to be honest, I never thought that I would be an author,” she told Tribune Weekend. “But I have always loved journalling and planning, and I truly believing in speaking positivity into your life.” It’s something that she often told the young people she mentored. “I believe in the power of affirmation,” she said. “I believe that you can speak certain things into your life. So that is why I always want to speak positivity into my life, so that it can come into existence.” Affirmations refer primarily to positive thinking and self-empowerment—fostering a belief that “a positive mental attitude supported by affirmations will achieve success in anything.” More specifically, an affirmation is a carefully formatted statement that should be repeated to oneself and written down frequently. For affirmations to be effective, it is said that they need to be present tense, positive, personal and specific.
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We are women; we were born strong, powerful and resilient. But in and through life’s moments we can all agree that we women do get weak. We all know that fulfilling the role of a daughter, sister, mother, aunt, wife, or friend can at times can be both mentally and emotionally draining. So much so that our powerful nature seems powerless.”
Friday, July 16, 2021
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Our resilience sometimes shrinks to feelings of vulnerability and selfdoubt. In these moments, we often need to aim our lives to hit targets that will propel us forward. Your life was not meant to be lived haphazardly, but with intention.” During lockdown, Racquel said she had time to think about life and what she wanted to accomplish in the future as it relates to her mentoring. “During the lockdown, I was wondering exactly what my purpose was and asking God to show me another avenue to take.” The answer was the launch of her AIM Her brand. “Life without aim is like a tree without fruits,” she said. “We are women; we were born strong, powerful and resilient. But in and through life’s moments we can all agree that we women do get weak. We all know that fulfilling the role of a daughter, sister, mother, aunt, wife, or friend can at times can be both mentally and emotionally draining. So much so that our powerful nature seems powerless,” she said. “Our resilience sometimes shrinks to feelings of vulnerability and self-doubt. In these moments, we often need to aim our lives to hit targets that will propel us forward. Your life was not meant to be lived haphazardly, but with intention; aiming to hit targets that reveal who you really are, and to uncover all there is to explore about her.” Speaking a bit more in detail on her book which ties in with the movement she hopes to launch, Racquel said: “I didn’t think I was an author, but I knew I wanted to do a book, and since affirmations were already such a big part of my life, I decided that I wanted that to be the focus of the book. There are 31 affirmations, so one for each day of the month,” she explained. It took her several months to complete the book once she came up with the idea for it. “I started around April last year and then by about September I was done. It took a while because I had to be in the mood to write and I had a hard time striving for that mark of perfection. And sometimes I would just keep rewriting sections of it because I wanted it to be perfect,” she said. While Racquel thinks anyone can benefit from reading the book, she said it’s particularly designed for women between the ages of 16 and 35. She hopes readers will be encouraged to find their strengths after reading the book and noted that affirmation is particularly important after the
The Tribune | Weekend | 05
traumatic and difficult year that COVID- 19 has caused. “Everyone has that one gift and that one strength in them, and you have to have the mindset that this is where you are going to start, because you never know that may be how you are able to use your gift to make a living or make a difference,” she said. Since writing the book, Racquel has gotten so much more than she expected from her readers. “To be honest, I have gotten so much from people who have read my book; they send me their testimonies about how it has helped them. Some of them are now rereading the book and it’s been mind-blowing to me to know how I have helped people. You know, sometimes we tend to belittle ourselves, (neglecting) the contributions that we can make if we follow and use the gifts that we have been given.” Racquel is excited about the future of her brand. She is already working on a second book of affirmations which will be targeted towards younger girls and is planning a line of merchandise such as T- shirts and planners. “AFFIRM Her” is available on Amazon.
27 Speak of mental kindness (4) 28 Test beagle about insect (4,6)
06 | The Tribune | Weekend
THE ALPHABEATE
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.
cnr nuH t e o
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 21; very good 31; excellent 42 (or more). Solution on Monday
Yesterday’s call 0907 181 2585 Sudoku Answer for today’s target solution *Calls cost 80p per minute plus your telephone company’s network access charge.
BATTLESHIPS CRYPTIC PUZZLE Across 1 Having a diploma might give one a nice title (10) 6 See a change as no difficulty (4) 10 Shoot for most of the season (5) 11 Prominent feature of Anne’s room (5,4) 12 In so many words go to jail (8) 13 The key note of medicine (5) 15 To argue in such a way is a scandal (7) 17 Boy with nets and lines (7) 19 Takes uncertain steps (7) 21 Reduce each damaged pen (7) 22 Girl is entitled to April in Paris (5) 24 Dead centre? (8) 27 Two signs merge to show where books may be obtained (9) 28 Point out the piebald horse (5) 29 Famous actor making a comeback? Nonsense (4) 30 Fit from doing nothing out of the ordinary (2,4,4)
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Yesterday’s Easy Solution Across: 1 Cover-up, 5 Bowls, 8 To the good, 9 Rib, 10 Hash, 12 Well done, 14 Stench, 15 Mozart, 17 Under way, 18 Step, 21 Era, 22 Hard times, 24 Enter, 25 Worldly. Down: 1 Catch, 2 Vat, 3 Reel, 4 Phoney, 5 Bad blood, 6 Work of art, 7 Subject, 11 Steadfast, 13 Scorcher, 14 Shut-eye, 16 Narrow, 19 Pushy, 20 Stir, 23 Mad.
Yesterday’s Cryptic Solution Across: 1 America, 5 Shrub, 8 Pointless, 9 Ace, 10 Eden, 12 Asterisk, 14 Litter, 15 Editor, 17 Armrests, 18 Acts, 21 Apt, 22 Burnished, 24 Elder, 25 Seaweed. Down: 1 Apple, 2 Eli, 3 Iota, 4 Averse, 5 Suspends, 6 Realistic, 7 Breaker, 11 Estimated, 13 Remember, 14 Leakage, 16 Storms, 19 Sided, 20 Diva, 23 Hoe.
EASY PUZZLE
Across 1 Suggest (3,7) 6 Accordingly (4) 10 Shallow recess (5) 11 Habitually bad sleeper (9) 12 Discompose (8) 13 A silken material (5) 15 Obtain (7) 17 Great victory (7) 19 Away from the wind (7) 21 Illuminate (7) 22 Make petty objections (5) 24 Commonly known as (2-6) 27 Compelling fixed idea (9) 28 Essential to existence (5) 29 Influence (4) 30 Priority (10)
Down 1 Long eagerly (4) 2 Skilled procedure (9) 3 Corpulent (5) 4 To pare with knife (7) 5 Hold in high esteem (7) 7 Haul up (5) 8 Not new (6-4) 9 Superlative (8) 14 Misleading (10) 16 Very quickly (2,1,5) 18 Worn-out and shabby (4-5) 20 File of papers on subject (7) 21 Terse (7) 23 Prospect (5) 25 Very angry (5) 26 Otherwise (4)
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 on Monday 1
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Across: 1 Destitute,277 Snored, 28 9 Crusade, 10 Oslo, 12 Gas, THe AL 13 Saddles, 14 Aha, 15 Ergo, Friday, July 16, 2021 17 Cobbler, 19 Engulf, black squar 20 Persevere. Down: 1 Decorate, 26, 29, 32, 3 2 Ears, 3 Sou, 4 Inaudible, Across: Tem 5 Toddle, 6 Texas, 8 Disgorge, Quash, Flu, Z 11 Odious, 13 Shine, 16 Gear, 18 Lie. Dye, Abash, Down: Tows cAn you crack the Alphabeater? each grid Skim, Fazed, extr TArgeT number represents a letter – or black square. Pervades, Ax 090 AsDiFFiDeNT in Alphapuzzle, every letter of the alphabet (Dedu each ex is deft used.dent But you complete dine the grid too! diedhave diet to DIFFIDENT CroSS use the given and black squares f dined dintedletters edit feint fend fetid fiefbelow Across: TAB fiend fine the finedgrid finite indie tend the gridfife to start. is ‘rotationally 090 Down: LOGI tide tided tidied tied words, tiffed it tine symmetrical’ – in other looks the *Calls co your t same if you turn the page upside down. SuMMi netw Solution on Monday 111 and 80 A 19 4 15 15 39 24 1 33 27 18 B C 36 16 39 14 11 18 31 30 6 2 D E 13 30 25 9 2 6 34 35 27 14 F G 34 14 39 12 23 17 8 39 38 29 H I 26 30 37 21 40 3 2 32 3 31 J K 37 8 39 16 10 1 6 1 18 5 L M 30 10Yesterday’s 33 30 28 32 26 6 2 20 N O 11 Kakuro Answer 34 1 28 38 29 5 29 12 18 P Q 9 32 24 39 3 37 2 6 36 28 R S 23 40 5 16 17 2 29 38 24 16 T U 9 34 4 34 8 35 27 26 30 6 V W 24 14 23 2 13 30 37 12 15 8 X Y 20 30 19 8 10 37 40 7 4 2 Z 2
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The Tribune | Weekend | 07
Friday, July 16, 2021
art
Approaching the abstract By JEFFARAH GIBSON | Tribune Features Writer | jgibson@tribunemedia.net
P
eople have been drinking beer for thousands of years. In the past, it was rightly considered safer to drink than water and served as a source of nutrition. Today, scientists have found that light to moderate consumption of beer may positively impact your cholesterol levels. But did you know that beer can also inspire you to be more creative? Well, at least this is the case when it comes to local artist Deime Ubani. The mixed media abstract artist recently celebrated the launch of her first solo show at the Sixty 2 Sixty Art Gallery entitled “Beer for Breakfast” . “I really wanted people to get into understanding my process, but also look into their own processes in which they function to work. My morning process has always beena daily reflection; it just so happens it’s usually accompanied by a beer. During this quiet period, I let my inner thoughts out on the canvas,” she said. Deime, who is of Nigerian-Barbadian heritage, was one of nine local artists recently chosen for the recent KFC mural project at their various location. It took Deime two days to finish her mural. “I wanted to not only portray the KFC brand respectively, but to also showcase my not only unique but versatile style. I wanted something bold, completely different from what persons would envision as the typical ad campaign and interactive. I mixed my colourful abstract fine art style and illustration, which kept it clean and fun. Since I also wanted it to also be an interactive piece, I threw in a few chicken heads and a belly button to spot. Definitely was a fun project,” she said. Deime said she was honoured to take part in this project. “There are a lot of other super talented artists they could have chosen from….and (I was) shocked since my style can be a bit far out at times; unique,” she told Tribune Weekend. Deime, who graduated from St Augustine’s College in 2006 and obtained her Associates of Art in 2009 from the College of the Bahamas, likes to explore many styles and genres of art, but somehow always finds her way back to the abstract. “No matter what I produce, it will always have abstract representation, even if it’s just in colour theory,” she said. “I have been an artist my entire life as I’ve always been fascinated the power of creation, colours and therapeutic release,” she said. “I don’t know what sparked my passion to create. Most people in my family as artistic so I was always encouraged to make art and to be the one to take it to the next level aside from a hobby.” She works in many mediums, ranging from acrylics to house paint, spray paint, oil pastel stains, collage and resin. Working with these
DEIME Ubani
DEIME’S KFC mural materials was also what led her to start her home own home decor brand, Big Wood Bahamas. Following the launch of her “Beer for Breakfast” show, Deime opened her second solo show, this time at Traveller’s Rest. That showcase highlighted more of Deime’s Big Wood products mixed with her typical fine art style. “Further down the line I will be gearing up for the ‘Evolution of the Arc’ open call - a concept I conceived at the beginning of the pandemic. I’m happy to have partnered with the Salus Project and the NAGB to host this great initiative,” she said.
10 | The Tribune | Weekend
Friday, July 16, 2021
music
Local teen Ameir takes listeners on personal journey with new EP
E
ighteen-year-old Bahamian talent Ameir, a former Queens College student and recent graduate of Walnut Hill School for the Arts, has released his debut digital extended play album (EP) “7teen,” on Apple Music, Spotify, and other streaming music platforms. The EP was produced by Grammy-winning Detroit producers Herschel Boone and Luis Resto (best known for his work with Eminem), and mixed and mastered by Benny Ibarra, the celebrated musician and actor from Mexico. Ameir said he is grateful to them for their support and expertise in the enhancement of what started as his high school senior project.
His mother, O’Layinka, speaking from her home in Nassau, said she is proud of her son. “We’re all immensely proud of him. Growing up, Ameir always showed signs of his creativity. But we saw it in action when he began editing a video, and surprising the family with his dance abilities and a solo song at a school fair.” As a young scholar, Ameir won the 2016 Templeton Laws of Life Essay Competition, a 2020 Scholastic Regional Silver Key Writing Award and hewas recognized in the E. Clement National Arts Festival for Gospel Duet and Acting in 2018. Ameir is also an accomplished producer, and actor. He’s appeared in local radio and television commercials for Tampico Bahamas and Aliv.
Photo /Antonio Viva His agent, Sonia S Brown of Brown Entertainment Group, knew from the very start that Ameir was destined for success. “I’ve been working with him professionally, as his agent, for a few years,” she said. “He has always been exceptional, and I knew he would be great. He is now preparing for college where he will major in Media and Film”. Sonia noted that Ameir’s journey is an example of perseverance and commitment to goals. “I want Bahamians to realise that if you have a dream, the only thing that can stop you is you. It doesn’t matter how far-fetched it may seem, the country you were born in, or the color of your skin. If you have a gift, dream, or talent, you need to cultivate and develop it and believe in yourself. If you decide that you can do something, you can do it. Don’t lose heart or hope,” she said.
On his debut EP, Ameir reflects on the defining stories of his 17th year of life. He pops into a new scene in “Only Me”, not finding much that looks like him, but is positive he will thrive despite anything. Smitten by a new “Crush”, this R&B tune confesses his blues when she lets him down suddenly, echoing a previous fling. Losing the girl is one thing, but now he loses his fake friends, forcing him to consider his rake ‘n scrape roots telling him to “Big Up Yourself”. Although he hears the song’s instructions, isolation gets to him as he cries out in an emotional ballad “Lonely”. Being alone allows him to predict the future and he sees for himself in a jazz, hip-hop fusion “Young Millionaire”. Now, he just needs a little help steering those dreams with his faith, taking us to church with the sultry sounds of his negotiations with “God in Take Me”.
The Tribune | Weekend | 11
Friday, July 16, 2021
books
New must-reads this week • While We Were Dancing by Jasmine Guillory (romance) Ben Stephens has never bothered with serious relationships. He has plenty of casual dates to keep him busy, family drama he’s trying to ignore and his advertising job to focus on. When Ben lands a huge ad campaign featuring movie star, Anna Gardiner, however, it’s hard to keep it purely professional. Anna is not just gorgeous and sexy, she’s also down to earth and considerate, and he can’t help flirting a little… Anna Gardiner is on a mission: to make herself a household name, and this ad campaign will be a great distraction while she waits to hear if she’s booked her next movie. However, she didn’t expect Ben Stephens to be her biggest distraction. She knows mixing business with pleasure never works out, but why not indulge in a harmless flirtation? But their light-hearted banter takes a turn for the serious when Ben helps Anna in a family emergency, and they reveal truths about themselves to each other, truths they’ve barely shared with those closest to them. • The Final Girl Support Group by Grady Hendrix (thriller)
Like his bestselling novel The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires, Grady Hendrix’s latest is a fast-paced, frightening, and wickedly humorous thriller. From chain saws to summer camp slayers, The Final Girl Support Group pays tribute to and slyly subverts our most popular horror films—movies like The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, A Nightmare on Elm Street, and Scream. Lynnette Tarkington is a real-life final girl who survived a massacre. For more than a decade, she’s been meeting with five other final girls and their therapist in a support group for those who survived the unthinkable, working to put their lives back together. Then one woman misses a meeting, and their worst fears are realised—someone knows about the group and is determined to rip their lives apart again, piece by piece. But the thing about final girls is that no matter how bad the odds, how dark the night, how sharp the knife, they will never, ever give up. • The Icepick Surgeon by Sam Kean (non-fiction) Science is a force for good in the world—at least usually. But sometimes, when obsession gets the better of scientists, they twist a noble pursuit into
something sinister. Under this spell, knowledge isn’t everything, it’s the only thing—no matter the cost. Bestselling author Sam Kean tells the true story of what happens when unfettered ambition pushes otherwise rational men and women to cross the line in the name of science, trampling ethical boundaries and often committing crimes in the process. The Icepick Surgeon masterfully guides the reader across two thousand years of history, beginning with Cleopatra’s dark deeds in ancient Egypt. The book reveals the origins of much of modern science in the transatlantic slave trade of the 1700s, as well as Thomas Edison’s mercenary support of the electric chair and the warped logic of the spies who infiltrated the Manhattan Project. But the sins of science aren’t all safely buried in the past. Many of them, Kean reminds us, still affect us today. We can draw direct lines from the medical abuses of Tuskegee and Nazi Germany to current vaccine hesitancy, and connect icepick lobotomies from the 1950s to the contemporary failings of mental-health care. Kean even takes us into the future, when advanced computers and genetic engineering could unleash whole new ways to do one another wrong.
12 | The Tribune | Weekend
Friday, July 16, 2021
literary lives - Princess Lee Radziwill (1933 - 2019)
The original celebrity influencer - Part I
Sir Christopher Ondaatje writes about the American socialite and interior decorator who was the younger sister of First Lady Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy and sister-in-law of President John F Kennedy. Even today, she serves as an inspiration for luxury designers.
On her marriage she became Her Serene Highness Princess Caroline Radziwill. They had two children, Anthony (1959-1999) and Christina (born 1960). This second marriage too ended in divorce in 1974. Before and after the divorce The New York Times reported that Peter Tufo was a frequent escort of the Princess. While married to Prince Stanislaw “Stas” Radziwill, she owned a London townhouse and a manor, Turville Grange – which she shared with her second husband. Both the townhouse and Turville Grange, which she decorated with the Italian stage designer Lorenzo Mongiardino, were much admired and frequently photographed by Cecil Beaton and Horst P Horst. During her second marriage she worked briefly as an interior decorator. Her clients were always the wealthy and she once decorated a house “for people who would not be there for more than three days a year.”
“My mother endlessly told me I was too fat, that I wasn’t a patch on my sister. It wasn’t much fun growing up with her and her almost irrational social climbing in that huge house of my dull stepfather Hughdie Auchincloss in Washington.” - Lee Radziwill Caroline Lee Bouvier was born on March 3, 1933, in Doctors Hospital in New York to stockbroker John Vernou Bouvier III and his wife Janet Norton Lee. She attended Chapin School in New York City, Potomac School in Washington, DC, Miss Porter’s School in Farmington, Connecticut, and finally undergraduate studies at Sarah Lawrence College. She was always known by her middle name “Lee” rather than Caroline.
She frequented celebrity company during her marriage, including travelling with The Rolling Stones and author Truman Capote on their 1972 tour of North America. “Taste is an emotion.” - Lee Radziwill But before that was her sister Jackie’s marriage to the ambitious Democratic politician John F Kennedy in September 1953 in Newport, Rhode Island. He was re-elected to a second Senate term in November 1958, and elected President on, November 8, 1960. This opened a huge new world to the Radziwills – the buoyant few years of the Kennedy Presidency ... and the opening up of the White House to artists and musicians.
“My father, naturally, spoiled me when I was allowed to see him – flying to New York from Washington, alone, in those terrifying planes. He’d take me to Danny Kaye movies and rent a dog for me to walk in the park on Sunday – a different dog every Sunday – and then to have butterscotch sundaes with almonds at Schrafft’s.” - Lee Radziwill When she was in her 20s, in the 1960s, she tried hard to become an actress, but her attempts were hopelessly unsuccessful – although much publicised. She starred as heiress Tracy Lord in the 1967 production of The Philadelphia Story. The play opened at the Ivanhoe Theatre in Chicago and her performance was widely panned. Only 12 months later she appeared in the title role of Laura – a television adaptation of the 1944 film of the same name. Again both she and the television production were badly received. “I’ve always wanted to be an actress. At school and in college I did some things. But then I married, and then I had children, and then there were the political years.” - Lee Radziwill Lee Radziwill was married three times. Her first marriage was to the American publishing executive Michael Canfield. They divorced in 1958, and
“I can’t deny those few years were glamorous, being on the presidential yacht for the America’s Cup races, the parties with the White House ‘en fête’. It was so ravishing ... and, as well, Jack’s charismatic charm and enthusiasm for life... LEE Radziwell the marriage was annulled by the Catholic Church in November 1962. Her second marriage, on March 2, 1959, was to the Polish aristocrat Prince Stanislaw Albrecht Radziwill, who divorced his second wife, the former Grace Marian Kolin, when he received a Roman Catholic annulment of his first marriage. (His second marriage had never been acknowledged by the Roman Catholic Church so no annulment was necessary.)
“My life could certainly have been different. Not so much because Jackie married Kennedy,but because he became President. If he’d lost the election, I’d have probably spent most of my life in England with Stas, whom I adored, as did anyone who knew him, and our children Anthony and Tina. We had this divine house on Buckingham Place behind the Palace, and the prettiest country place in Oxfordshire ... Turville Grange ... that Mongiardino decorated ... simple and original that stays in the mind for ever. Like I Tatti, and Nancy Lancaster’s Ditchley Park, or Peter Beard’s house in Montauk. - Lee Radziwill
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These were glorious and happy years in the sun. President Kennedy and Radziwill’s sister would stay with them in Buckingham Place rather than the American Embassy, and they were invited to all the great events, dinner at Buckingham Palace, and some, if not all the important social events in the United States. Also an eventful unofficial nineday trip that Radziwill took with her sister to India in March 1962 that included New Delhi, Agra, Benares, Udaipur and Jaipur. Prince Stanislaw Radziwill and his wife travelled to Washington often. They were a glittering and popular couple. And then quite suddenly it was all over. At 12.30pm on November 22, 1963, President Kennedy was shot and killed in Dallas, Texas. Lee Radziwill immediately flew from her home in England to be with her sister in Washington – but things were never quite the same again – either in her life or with her elder sister. “Well, there was Jack’s death and ... and ... Ari (Aristotle Onassis). I think the world knows more about all that than I do. He was dynamic, irrational, cruel I suppose, but fascinating. He also had the most beautiful skin, and smelled wonderful. Naturally, I mean. Fascinating ... as my sister discovered:” - Lee Radziwill
LEE Radziwil with second husband Stanislaw Albrecht Radziwill and their children, Anna Christina and Anthony. (Photo by Anthony Wallace).jfif ONE of the luxury bags from designer Tory Burch’s Lee Radziwill collection (Photo, Tory Burch)
In 1972, Lee Radziwill, encouraged by her lover – the adventurer/photographer Peter Beard, hired the documentary filmmakers Albert and David Maysles to work on a film about the Bouvier family. But the film did not quite turn out the way Radziwill wanted. The two brothers filmed the eccentric and reclusive members of the extended family, Edith “Big Edie” Ewing Bouvier Beale, and her daughter Edith Bouvier Beale – “Little Edie”. They were Radziwill’s aunt and cousin respectively, and they lived in a rambling, rundown, decaying house in East Hampton, New York. Impecunious, the two “Edies” were always short of money and were supported by other members of the family.
been shot of the Beales. However, the Maysles brothers were fascinated by the strange life the two women led, and after completing Radziwell’s original project they raised money for film and equipment on their own, ignoring any original moral obligation to Radziwell, and then filmed 70 more hours of footage with Big Edie and Little Edie. The resulting film, titled Grey Gardens (1976) after the name of the Beales’ house, is now generally considered a documentary masterpiece. It was later adapted as a 2006 musical of the same name, in which both Jackie and Lee Bouvier appeared as visiting children. A TV movie by HBO based on the documentary, also called Grey Gardens, appeared in 2009. It starred Drew Barrymore and Jessica Lange.
“We lived fairly near my aunt Edie Beale and I’d play with her daughter, Little Edie, even though she was quite a bit older. Grey Gardens was a beautiful house, but I lost touch when I married and lived in England. Later I had my own house in East Hampton, and went to visit them with Peter Beard. My God, you should have seen the place! And them! But they were sweet and funny and happily living in their own world. The original idea for the film was to be about my return to East Hampton after thirty years and to have my aunt Edith narrate my nostalgia and hers, so we phoned the Maysles brothers. Initially the Edies were against it, but the Maysles charmed them as they only worked with sixteen millimetre cameras, and we were finally allowed in. The remake is good.” - Lee Radziwill Radziwill’s original film project was not completed, but Radziwill kept the footage that had
LEE RADZIWELL, aged 16, with her father, stock broker John Vernou Bouvier III, in East Hampton
• Sir Christopher Ondaatje is the author of The Last Colonial. He that he has quoted liberally from Wikipedia; In Her Sister’s Shadow: An Intimate Biography of Lee Radziwill (1995) by Diana Dubois; and Nemesis: The True Story (2004) by Peter Evans.
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history
A stroll down memory lane
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elling a house means moving out, then moving into somewhere else. It’s work, hard work, but I am finding it very interesting, because I get to touch and feel my collection of things Bahamian. The winter of 1925/26 was a cold one. My eldest brother was born in January and my parents bought a Perfection kerosenepowered space heater that kept me warm throughout my early years and is still in working condition today. I’ve never seen an original of the books that my father wrote in the 1920s, mapping and describing each and every island/cay in the Exumas and in the Berry Islands. They were bibles for real estate agents and I’m happy to have a rather-faded copy that was a gift from Sir Harold Christie. In 1926, the Imperial Government published an atlas called Maps of the Bahama Islands, one of which is in the Royal Geographic Society in London. It’s entertaining
PAUL C ARANHA
FORGOTTEN FACTS BOUGHT in 1926, his No. 630 Perfection Oil Heater is a family heirloom of Captain Paul Aranha of Lyford Cay to compare the official 1926 names of some of the islands with what they are called today. I have my father’s copy, plus six others that I collected for my children. In 1924, Sir Etienne Dupuch published The Tribune
Handbook, from which I learned that the steps at Clifton were cut by/for Dr Ernest Williamson, who named them Jane Gale’s Cave. My father’s copy of the 1926 Bahamas Handbook. He was annoyed with Mary Moseley for failing to credit him with his maps that she used. The Memoirs of Capt. Pater Henry Bruce is a very important recounting of Bruce’s experience in the building of Fort Montagu, Nassau’s oldest structure. When he arrived, there were no wheeled vehicles on the island. I almost forgot to remove from the wall in my study the plaque presented to me, on January 10, 1989. It was a splendid idea, but I outlived the organisation. By next week, a lot of our stuff will have been moved to the new home. Meanwhile, I leave you to puff on the 7” cigar that Fidel Castro gave me on July 9, 1984. • For questions and comments, please send an e-mail to islandairman@gmail.com
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animals
The sounds of Summer
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Animal matters | KIM ARANHA
ave you ever noticed how sounds and smells can bring back a particular memory in a split second? Summers of the past, of my youth, of our youths: unbelievably lucid memories of occurrences and feelings can all be brought back by a single sound... the rustle of silk, the whiff of perfume, a touch, a song, a sound can evoke an almost overwhelming wave from the past. A walk on the beach, a glass of wine overlooking an olive grove, furtive forbidden moments, tears, laughter, coming to terms with the inevitable; all nostalgic moments tucked into our subconscious ready to leap out at us and bowl us over in an instant. Some of my most vivid memories of summer throughout my life involve the background night sounds of the cicadas, whether in the Bahamas or in Europe, they appeared to be everywhere. The very thought of the exceptionally distinctive sound of cicadas makes me imagine still hot nights, a bright cloak of stars above our heads and that relentless summer sound. During my Bahamas summers spent in the Berry Islands I remember going out into the inky black night and the cicada din was almost unbearable, and incidentally, were those stars brighter? No, but the air was cleaner, and there were less lights around to dilute the in-
PET OF THE WEEK
Let a little bit of magic into your life By The Bahamas Humane Society
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airy-like and dainty, Pixie arrived at the Bahamas Humane Society with a serious itch. Not just an itch to be adopted
tensity of their sparkle. The air would be thick with humidity and the cicada’s call relentless. In the mornings, the trees would be littered with the discarded shells of the insects uselessly decorating the landscape. When I think of it, I do not think I have ever seen a living cicada, just his old, discarded skin, invariably clustered together on a single branch of a tree or crowded on the trunk of a coconut tree. What is a cicada? He is absolutely not to be mistaken for a locust; two very different creatures. They belong to the superfamily Cicadoidea and the cricket and locust belong to the order Orthopter. A cicada is a cousin of the cricket. The locust is more like a grasshopper, and they do not even look similar. In a blog called “Italian Notes”, the author says: “You know summer has come to southern Italy when you can’t hear your own thoughts for the enervating noise of cicadas.” That is so true, but not just in Southern Italy, I can assure you. A rather amusing detail is that the cicada frequently never even leaves his home tree, and his amorous escapades undoubtedly are with a lady cicada from the same tree, so why on earth do that have to be so loud when they are literally inches, or at best, a few feet apart? Cicadas are like living thermometers
but an actual itch that needs to be medically treated. But that’s not slowing down her bubbly outgoing personality. Pixie’s up at the front of her crate and saying hello to everyone who passes by. The young lady is about ten months old and not quite ready for adoption yet (gotta get rid of that itch!), but she’s here to say there are many other pups ready to go home from the BHS, and won’t you please consider adopting one of them? Also, she says, come back and
A CICADA on a tree
and the moment the temperature goes over 30 degrees centigrade they start to make noise and click to their heart’s content, finally switching off around noon only to get going again at dusk. The Scandinavians think singing cicadas are romantic, but they can literally drown out the terms of endearment you might be trying to whisper. They can be so noisy that you might even just wish for rain. According to the Encyclopaedia Brittanica: “Cicadas are able to produce these sounds because they possess an organ that is almost unique among insects, the tymbal organ. ... Contraction of a tymbal muscle attached to the membrane causes it to bend, producing a clicking sound. The tymbal springs back when the muscle is relaxed.” Cicadas are a sort of one-man band, whereas the cricket makes sound by rubbing its wings together (not its legs, as most people think). They have the most extraordinary lives, one that nobody could envy, for sure. “Female cicadas lay eggs in trees. When cicadas hatch, they drop to the
adopt her when she’s ready. She’d love a playmate. For more information on Pixie and the other pups, please call 323-5138. Pixie looks forward to saying hello! • The BHS Thrift Shop is open. Wednesday, Thursday and Friday from 11am to 3pm and Saturday from 10am to 2pm. We sell gently used items to raise funds for the shelter. If you’d like to donate, we’d be grateful to accept your donation. If the shop is closed, please leave them in the main shelter. Thank you!
Photo/ Linda Gill-Aranha
ground and begin burrowing. They usually keep digging until they are about eight feet underground. They live there for either 13 or 17 years, depending on which brood they are in, and then tunnel their way to the surface. Once the adult cicadas surface, they linger for about five weeks before they start to die off.” Imagine living for up to 17 years underground to surface only to die a few weeks later? What I have been wondering about lately is where have all the cicadas gone? I no longer hear the din that was the backdrop to the summer nights of my youth. I no longer find hundreds of discarded cicada “clothing” on trees. Where have these noisy little fellows gone to? Have we scared them away with too many lights, or killed them off with bug sprays and fertilizers? Or has the world simply changed, and they are not as prevalent? Or worse still, as I get older, do I not hear them as clearly and they are actually out there screaming their heads off?
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gardening
The global garden
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ood day, gardeners! With countless topics to discuss about gardening, from ammonium to zinc, and Adenium to Zamioculcus, aphids to whitefly, the one thing that affects all of us, and is particularly challenging and poignant since the pandemic began, is access to and availability of products. How do we get all of things, the imported plants, materials and supplies, the necessary components to a successful, diverse and balanced garden? The global supply chain is as important to the local garden in the most developed countries, let alone in our island nation, as it is to the grocery store, the lumber yard, or to the car dealership. It is impossible for any gardener, garden center, plant nursery, or landscaper to get any of the lawn mowers, fertilizers, pesticides, fungicides, pots, accessories, or even many plants, without the global supply chain. I have always been shocked at the prices of garden hoses, and yet, without an installed irrigation system, how else to get water where it is needed when it is needed? It takes raw materials to make a garden hose. It takes trucks and drivers to deliver to distribution points and then to the ports. Go out and try to source small fruit trees (high-quality, in-demand products like mango or avocado, not seed grown common types like soursop as they are always over produced because just about anyone can grow them) and tell me how it goes! Things take time to produce, rootstocks and scions must be available, plastic pots and planting media (packaged in plastic), nutrients and pest control. It is also impossible for any one supplier or grower to produce everything or to carry everything that is available to create a spectacular garden without the global supply chain. Raw materials are sourced from all over the world, even in pin sized places like The Bahamas, we rely on the ships that move things, we rely on plastics to package things, we rely on the global human capital that make sure that things get produced, we rely on weather patterns to be favourable, amongst many other factors that can affect accessibility and availability. Don’t let’s begin on inflation or supply and demand. No matter the circumstances someone will complain about the prices and if you feel something is priced too high, have a look at the increased costs of shipping to the high-volume ports around the world. (I won’t get into the local constrictions and constraints placed on local businesses by government, which is not always business friendly to say the least, I’m no economist but remove duty for businesses, not consumers, to allow us as a nation to compete). The movement of goods and materials has taken a hit and even with rebounding economies in those places that are doing a better job at getting people vaccinated, there is a shortage of labour and an
increase in costs. A few weeks ago, I was scouring south Florida for materials, and every single person, every single business that I visited or spoke with was shaking their heads about the situation that is affecting us all. Even the most common landscape plants are in short supply, let alone shelf products and planting media. An orchid grower that I visited mentioned that in the 50 years that he has been in business, he has never seen anything like it, he is also one of the larger orchid suppliers in the region and he tells me that orchids will be relatively scarce for a while, these things do not get made overnight. I see some of
our local garden centers have been able to source some orchids, and it is not easy, I will tell you that much, so kudos to them. Liner (starter plants) suppliers are over booked for six months down the line! Our potting soil suppliers are taking three months to fill orders that took three weeks before spring 2020. Many businesses in the garden industry are not accepting new customers, read that again, not accepting new customers. People work hard to source and procure products that we carry and make available to local gardeners. I have been in the nursery business since 1998, our nursery has been in business since 1975. These are unprecedented times, and even back in the 1918 pandemic, the global supply chain was still in its nascent stages, so we are all dealing with new challenges. The effectiveness and efficiency of the global supply chain is crucial to the smallest of gardeners. Pest control in the garden is necessary, virus control on a global scale is necessary, as it all affects the garden, these are facts. Good luck, and as always, happy gardening! Oh, and watch out for caterpillars, snails and slugs at this time of year. • 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.