The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) has joined the people of Barbados in mourning the passing of the poet and novelist George Lamming.

In a statement, CARICOM Secretary General Carla Barnett noted that Lamming, who was also an essay writer, orator, lecturer, teacher, editor and tireless activist, was more than a literary icon.

“He was an authentic Caribbean voice,” Barnett said.

In conferring CARICOM’s highest award, the Order of the Caribbean Community (OCC), on Lamming in 2008, his citation noted that the Community was honouring “55 years of extraordinary engagement with the responsibility of illuminating Caribbean identities, healing the wounds of erasure and fragmentation, envisioning possibilities, transcending inherited limitations” and applauded his “intellectual energy, constancy of vision, and an unswerving dedication to the ideals of freedom and sovereignty”.

Barnett said those words fully encapsulated Lamming’s extraordinary contribution to the region he loved unreservedly and to which he dedicated his considerable skill.

“Our Community is richer for his interventions and poorer for his loss. George Lamming has left a treasure trove of works which remain relevant and reflects the Caribbean condition,” she said.

“I extend deepest condolences to the family of Mr Lamming and the Government and people of Barbados on the death of this true Caribbean icon.”

Lamming died on Saturday (June 4) at age 94.

READ: ‘Barbados will miss George Lamming’ – Noted Caribbean literary icon passes