"Deserving of an honorary doctorate", "A well-crafted balance between storytelling, history and journalism", "A preservation of lives that would otherwise slip quietly from view". Such are the reviews of 'The Village of One: Essays on Trinbago's Past, Places and People', a collection of stories by Trinidad Express Multimedia Editor and Writer, Richard Charan. Rynessa Cutting has more from the official book launch at Central Bank.
00:00Darion Romain, the Pirate of Paramin. I searched for him for hours, armed only with a newspaper clipping and stubborn determination, chasing rumors of a man who should have been dead 50 years before, but was instead celebrating his 60th birthday.
00:23The Village of One, Essays on Trinbego's Past, Places and People, is a collection of stories documenting the Trinbegonian experience from the lens of the average man, each of them with a unique perspective on the shared experience of life in TNT.
00:40To write this book, I reported as I always have, but through a gentler lens. I sat with the elders. I wandered through lost places. I listened more than I spoke, whether seated on a forest log, in a rum shop, or outside an abandoned church.
01:00Many of these places no longer exist on the map. Some exist only in memory. And yet, they endure through the stories of those who carry them.
01:16One key theme in the book is the human condition of those who live well beyond the lighthouse, and the silent impact of what Charon terms geographic discrimination.
01:27Why does this matter?
01:29Why does this matter? Because many parts of our country, and our history, have been minimized. We must confront the truth of this geographic discrimination. Political, economic, and carnival histories are well documented, but the lives of ordinary Trinbegonians are often forgotten.
01:55So why did I call the book, The Village of One? On the surface, it sounds lonely, but to me, it speaks of the truth that each of us carries a village within us.
02:13One such story is that of Isidore Tenya, who inspired the title of the publication.
02:18Isidore Tenya, whoç±» Tenya, who inspired the Washington Post, Israel of Michigan, South Africa, and the Americaninate Union, has been a very different part of the application.
02:20I think everything was had. It went until the American community when they had the war in 42, I think, in 46 somewhere around that time.
02:36Then a little money started. And although it was a little better than those days, when I grew up, the thing was bad.
02:47The book is already garnering rave reviews.
02:51This book, as a guide for local tourists like myself,
02:57and I expect for those who will come from other lands,
03:00will be a guide and give that kind of background.
03:06I want to say, as Professor Ramchand reminded me of my days
03:11at the Accreditation Council as chairman,
03:14I want to say when I looked at this work,
03:18this professor is an equivalent to an honorary PhD.
03:24And if I had the ability to today, Richard,
03:27I would have conferred that on you.
03:29Chief Executive Officer of One Caribbean Media, Dawn Thomas,
03:33hails the publication as a testament of the enduring commitment
03:36of the Trinidad Express and OCM
03:38to telling the stories which truly matter.
03:42We are honored today to celebrate the craft that unites us all.
03:47Journalism that informs, enlightens, and above all, serves the public.
03:53I want to personally congratulate Richard on this significant achievement.
03:59I encourage everyone here to explore this book,
04:03which stands both as a celebration of our national story
04:06and a reflection of the vital role journalists play
04:10in preserving our collective memory.
04:13The Village of One is now available at local bookstores.
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