UWI vice-chancellor: ‘Butch’ Stewart presents the cultural spirit of the ages
/ Our Today
administrator
The late Gordon ‘Butch’ Stewart has been hailed for giving the world “a performance of sheer class with cool runnings”.
In a statement Tuesday (January 5), Professor Sir Hilary Beckles, vice-chancellor of the University of the West Indies, said Stewart, who died on Monday at age 79, was among those Jamaicans who represent the cultural “spirit of the ages”.
“There is an indomitable spirit that resides in the bosom of Jamaica, and when liberated with focus, discipline, and purpose rises and takes the world along with its imagination and energy,” said Sir Hilary.
” Our ‘Butch’, like Bob [Marley] and [Usain] Bolt, represents this cultural spirit of the ages. It is born to be brash, brave and brilliant, constituting a cascading commitment to nation building and regional renaissance.”
He added: “Our Butch was the ‘stewart’ of this spirit and gave to Jamaica, the Caribbean and the world a performance of sheer class with cool runnings—a ‘sandalisation’ of awe and amazement. We experienced in his innovative entrepreneurship, the eruptive excellence of a son produced and nurtured by a soil rich in history and fertile for the future. He integrated and domesticated his Caribbean like no entrepreneurial other, and demanded ownership everywhere the ‘sandals sea’ swept upon our shores.
“And so the indomitable spirit is called back to source, to rest, to wheel and to come again.”
Sir Hilary, speaking on behalf of The UWI, expressed condolences to his family, friends, and homelands.
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