Shake Ellsworth KEANE, St.
Vincent, Internationally known Poet, famous
House of Nehesi Publishing web page for Shake Keane
return to Russ Filman's Caribbean Literature
jazz trumpeter and flugelhorn
player, worked for the BBC in the 50's and
60's. Director of Culture in
St. Vincent and the Grenadines for one term of
contract(1972). World
renown as a superb jazz musician in Germany, Sweden,
Norway, London,
etc. Died in 1997 in Norway. See poem in memory of Keane
by
former Resident Tutor/Director of University of the West Indies
School of
Continuing Education, St.Vincent Branch, Cameron O'Neil King,
delivered at
scond Anniversary celebration in New York, November
1999.
TRIBUTE TO
SHAKE
KEANE
By
CAMERON
O'NEIL KING
HIS writing snapped and broke old habits of thought,
the
smooth eloquence of his horn blessing new designs.
He had no illusions about
resurrection and brotherly love,
"Can't beat ructions and eruptions", they
tell it like it ain't,
even as thoughts elude murderous clutches of
mind
and coil like serpents in secret places of the brain,
Smiling at the
grey matter there in perfect villainy.
These things no doubt made him
sweep
Many broken pints of deeper reflection
Into a native ocean of
swollen indifference...
But the Creative Stature of the man,
The
Goodwill of his nature, brotherhood of the man,
Music and Poetry of the Soul
proclaiming the man,
What country in Truth would deny his liberty its
berth,
Beacon of illumination for native sons, daughters
true?
The
mind, the man, the horn, speaking voice remain,
fluted harmony, poignant
voice on a flood of tears:
Weeping, we kill those we claim for Love's
estate,
Allow their human faults to shape their fate.
Cameron O'Neil KING: St. Vincent Poet and Cultural Producer of Music Shows
and
Entertainment. 1938 - Most recent production, 1999: In The Valley
Of The
Shadow: A Dialogue of travel on the subway trains of New York City
between
the Shadow and another main character on American Life Values.
Touches on
Racial concerns, violence in America's schools, the homeless,
politics,
marital relations, and explores the contrast between the Carl Sagan
type of
philosophy and that of the more traditional Christian approach
to living.
Others by King: Voice of the Poet, Camm King, THE MANIFESTO,
1984*: Sections:
Prologue; The Kingdom Come; Shadows Move Among Them; Run;
Choices;
The
Manifesto.
AIBEL IN PAIN, 1983 Sections: The Awakening; The
Flight; death and
Resurrection; The Return; The Healing. ( Contains both
standard English and
Creole Dialect
passages).
TOO DEEP FOR TEARS, 1980: Prologue; Casino State;
Future Shock; And
This Is Our Land; Women And Children; For The
Exiled.
VISION, 1973 Covers Origins, The quest For
Love, Dimensions and
Requiem.
Critical Writings:UWI Allen Layne Essay Prize
winner(1964) on Derek Walcott's
IN A GREEN NIGHT. (Walcott two decades later
became Nobel Prize Winner
in Literature,(1993). Chapter On JAMAICAN
LITERATURE in Ian Fleming's
JAMAICA(Fleming, writer of the James Bond
series).Andre Deutsch
Publication. Joint Chapter with ed Louis James
on
Derek Walcott in Oxford Book, THE ISLANDS IN BETWEEN.
Journalism Series in
the Vincentian Newspaper, titled THE VINCENTIAN:
STRAIGHT THINKING.
Next: Editor Anthony JOYETTE: VINCENTIAN POETS, 1950
TO 1980.
For further information, contact
Patricia Baptiste, St. Vincent UWI
Librarian, University Center, Murray's
Road, Kingstown, ST.VINCENT.
Sincerely, Homer Solomon
(Writer: Critical Analysis of King's "In The Valley Of The Shadow".)