Claude Montgomery Packer is a proud product of The Mico as well as an agent of transformation of The Mico. Claude Packer entered The Mico as a teenager in 1963 when the College was under the leadership of the Honorable Glen Owen, the first past student of The Mico to lead the institution. Claude graduated as a teacher in 1966 at age 22 years. In the tradition of The Mico, Claude Packer is a Glen Owen man.
In reflecting upon the life and work of the late Michael Manley the thought struck me that he is best described as a big man. Given the numerous meanings and interpretations that could be put to this characterization, I decided to explore as many of these meanings and interpretations as I could think of, to see to what extent this description was accurate.
On Saturday, July 1st the Bahamas buried one of its great sons, Archdeacon William Thompson, Rector of the St Agnes Parish Church in Nassau. Archdeacon Thompson was a Caribbean bred theologian with a deep understanding of Bahamian and Caribbean history. He was proud of being a graduate of Codrington College in Barbados.
I met Merceline Dahl, married later named Regis, when she studied medicine at the University of the West Indies, Mona. Immediately recognizing that my mother was a Dahl I invited Merceline to meet her. We then learned that Merceline’s father, George, was the brother of my mother’s father, Ernest Dahl. The Bahamian and the Jamaican Dahl’s are close relatives. Following this discovery, on every visit to Nassau on UWI business, I visited my grand uncle and therefore met and interacted with his elegant, dignified and poised wife, Mrs. Marguerite Dahl.
Within the space of one week three remarkable women of our times past away, Dr. the Honourable Gloria Knight, Princess Diana and Mother Theresa, Nobel Laureate. The news has been dominated by the outpouring of grief and tributes paid to them. What is particularly striking is that in a world still biased against women holding top positions at the pinnacle of power, wealth and status these three ladies in their death could so completely take the centre stage.
