Howard Campbell, Gleaner Writer
Her final performance. The flag-draped casket holding the body of the late Louise Bennett-Coverley is carried out of the Coke Methodist Church, downtown Kingston, by policemen yesterday, after an official funeral that lasted for more than two hours. She was later buried at National Heroes Park. - Rudolph Brown/ Chief Photographer
Jamaica yesterday said a final 'walk good' to beloved folklorist Louise 'Miss Lou' Bennett-Coverley, with an emotional thanksgiving service at the Coke
Methodist Church in downtown Kingston.
There was laughter amid the tears as respective speakers recalled Miss Lou's love for a good yarn, her throaty laugh and commitment to Jamaica's indigenous culture.
Miss Lou died on July 26 at the Scarborough Grace Hospital in Toronto, Canada, the city where she and her husband, actor Eric Coverley, lived since the mid-1980s.
Hundreds of persons turned out for Miss Lou's curtain call which took place a stone's throw from the Ward Theatre, scene of some of the legendary folklorist/actress' finest moments.
Rabid applause greeted dignitaries when they arrived for the afternoon service. But even in death Miss Lou was the scene-stealer as several persons clamoured for funeral
programmes produced by the Jamaica Information Service.
"Bwoy, a she a de original mama, yuh nuh," said one man before the start of the service. "She deserve the big up."
Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller, Opposition Leader Bruce Golding, and former prime ministers P.J. Patterson and Edward Seaga were among those attending the service, which ended with Miss Lou's burial at the National Heroes Park.
Mrs. Simpson Miller said Miss Lou was a "national treasure" who advocated the use of Jamaican dialect in schools and the arts. She noted that that advocacy continued to influence this country's popular culture.
"From (Trevor) Rhone to Marley, from (Oliver) Samuels to Beenie Man, just to name a few, owe her a debt of gratitude," the Prime Minister said.
Mr. Golding also paid homage to Miss Lou the trailblazer.
She brought recognition
"She more than any other brought recognition and value to our indigenous culture, our folklore, our dialect and our peculiar idiosyncrasies ... the things that indelibly make us who and what we are - Jamaican," said Mr. Golding.
Professor Rex Nettleford, vice chancellor emeritus of the University of the West Indies and a close friend of Miss Lou, recalled the days when her folklore tales were ridiculed. Eventually, he said, her work was embraced by academia.
An oppressive heat baked the Coke Methodist Church as the Little Theatre Movement did a moving rendition of Peter Tosh's Jah Is My Keeper. It gave way to heavy rain as the service wound down.
The downpour ended as the congregation flowed from the church to National Heroes Park for the last rites. The gods, it seemed, would not allow the rain to spoil Miss Lou's final 'performance'.
