'Miss Lou'
CULTURAL ICON, international folklorist and Jamaica's First Lady of Comedy, Dr. the Honourable Louise Bennett-Coverley, O.M., O.J., M.B.E., D.Lit., will be the special guest for Jamaica's Emancipation and Independence Celebrations this year.
A special committee representing a cross section of the State, Arts and Culture has been established to organise Miss Lou's three-week visit which will begin on July 29.
During her stay Miss Lou, who currently resides in Canada, will be the guest of honour at a number of events planned for the Independence and Emancipation Celebrations. A series of activities will also be held in her honour.
In extending the invitation to Miss Lou, Prime Minister P.J. Patterson noted that she was deserving of Jamaica's special tribute. He said the visit would allow the country the opportunity to pay due homage to her in a spirit of true Jamaican hospitality. "We dah luk out fe see you", he said.
Miss Lou in accepting the invitation, expressed her delight in true Miss Lou fashion by saying "Me glad bag bus wid joyfulness to accept this generous offer, nuff nuff howdy-an-tenky, me dah luk out fe see oonoo to".
The Hon. Louise Bennett-Coverley, folklorist, actor, comedian, broadcaster and author, has been perhaps the most dominant personality in the history of Jamaican theatre and culture.
A living legend, Miss Lou's influence in legitimising the use of the Jamaican vernacular in literature, the arts and scholarship is second to none. Her role in "Jamaicanising" local theatre has provided a rich legacy for generations of performers and students of the arts and culture.
In 2001 Miss Lou was accorded the Actor Boy lifetime achievement award as Jamaican Theatre Personality of The Millennium.
Her honours include: Member of the Order of the British Empire, awarded to her by Queen Elizabeth II in 1961, the Musgrave Silver and Gold Medals, Institute of Jamaica Centenary Medal, the 1974 Norman Manley Award of Excellence, the Order of Jamaica, entitling her to be addressed as "the Honourable Louise Bennett-Coverley and the Order of Merit, Jamaica's third highest National Honour.
