Today I remember a good friend whom I learned passed on last week in the
quiet solitude of a coma, not more that a few weeks following the passing
of his beloved mother, Annie (Russell). I am told that following
her death his health declined further and he passed away last week Wednesday.
May his soul rest in peace.
When I arrived in Grand Bahama back in 1970 I was given two job considerations, one at an industrial plant, and the other at The Freeport News, where I met Colin Tatem, then the Editor. By the end of a brief interview I was convinced of the path that I would choose, and thanks to Colin Tatem it has been rewarding.
How well I remember his advice to me that day if I chose to become a reporter: ‘Try to use simple words, not more than four or five letter, and people will understand what you have to say.’
Colin was convincing, articulate, entertaining and a renaissance man, loved music and choir singing; he was a playwright, a thespian, a great member and fan of The Regency Theater, a culturalist, he loved junkanoo and at one time was a member of the G.B. Junkanoo Committee, in the early ‘70s; a teacher, a damn good writer, a sportsman (loved golf), well read, and a friend to all whom he met. He influenced in the craft others like the late Richardson Campbell, Terrance Roberts, Simon Lewis, Reg Pinder, then the photographers at The Freeport News; and some who today practice in the Fourth Estate.
Following his departure from The Freeport News he carved out a new career in the hospitality industry serving in various managerial positions at King’s Inn/Princess, now Royal Oasis, until he relocated to the United States.
In recent years Colin became a devote Christian and in fact was, Dr. Colin Tatem, Lord Abbot of The International Order of St. Cornelius The Centurion, a Religious and Chivalric Order which accepts members, men and women, of all Christian denominations. (Read about St. Cornelius in Acts of The Apostles, Chapter 10, who later became a Bishop of the early Church.)
Injuries and illness in recent years, Colin and I communicated via the e-mail. I remember how proud he was of his children about this time last year when he wrote to say, “Ashley will graduate in May. She received a State Fellowship to do a Ph.D., and then she must teach at a State University. Christopher is finishing up Medical School (he did six years as a Medic in the Navy), Colin Jr. is running the Inn in Montego Bay, Jamaica, and Gwen has gone shopping.”
He said in that same note: ‘Today is the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday. On Saturday I went to a Gospel Concert at the Public Library. Greg, those choirs could sing! Yesterday, St. Cornelius got two new Members, one from Canada and one from Portugal. The web-site is doing its job.”
Colin was not one to dwell on the negative aspects of life, and this was reflected in one on his columns, ‘Everyday Heroes’, that he penned for The Bahama Journal. His positive look on life was reflected in a quotation that he found in a little book he read and in which he sound solace, written by Mother Theresa of Calcutta, called, In The Heart of The World; it read: “I feel that we too often focus on the negative aspects in life, on what is bad. If we were more willing to see the good and beautiful things that surround us, we would be able to transform our families. From there, we would be able to bring peace and love to our world, which hungers so much for these things.”
In that column he viewed the message as basic, not earth shattering, but noted that, “it tells us simply that if we were to look closely enough, especially at the people we love most in the world, our family, and find in them what is good, acknowledging the goodness rather than their faults, then reach outward, to one person at a time, with love, understanding and a willingness to recognize and praise that which is good, in time, each individual could well influence a great many people”.