Plans to Memorialize Miss Lou in Film, Book and Apparel

By Neil Armstrong

 

Photo contributed   Left to right: Nadine Miller, producer/coordination; Ian Xun, director/cinema photographer; Fabian Coverley, executive director; Suzanne (Zan) Coy, producer; Clayton Coverley, producer and Pearl Anderson, administrator with a portrait of Miss Lou by Judy Geller, a friend of the Coverley family.

There are plans to celebrate Jamaica’s premier storyteller, poet and cultural icon, Louise Bennett-Coverley, popularly known as ‘Miss Lou,’ like no one has seen before – by the celebration of her 100^th birthday in September 2019.

Imagine experiencing Miss Lou in film, a coffee table book with an Augmented Reality feature, and apparel influenced by her famous greeting ‘Walk Good.’

Fabian Coverley, son and co-executor of the estate of Louise Bennett-Coverley, and his son, Clayton Coverley, one of Miss Lou’s three grandsons, are part of a team working to share the legacy of Miss Lou in multiple creative forms.

“Miss Lou Say So (Walk Good)” a 90-minute theatrical feature documentary aims to remind the world of “the power of Jamaican culture that was embodied in the singularly important icon that is Miss Lou.”

It reanimates Miss Lou's classic stories, poems and songs using three different narrative modes: performance, interviews, and animation. 

Renowned Jamaican artists such as Oliver Samuels and Mutabaruka will narrate animated retellings of Miss Lou’s Anansi stories.

 There are plans for famous Jamaicans, like Freddie McGregor, Beenie Man, Bounty Killer, Lennox Lewis and international stars like Russell Peters, Adele, Sting, Drake and others will “render snippets of Miss Lou’s folk songs as a tribute to the influence that Jamaican culture has had on their lives.”

The performances and stories will be intercut with interviews of people who knew her, and those who studied her work. Archival footage of Miss Lou will be interwoven in the narrative of the film.

An “Eric and Louise Bennett Coverley” coffee table book will be produced as a companion to the film.

“This impressive publication will be entertaining and educational featuring beautiful rare images of Louise Bennett (Miss Lou) and Eric Coverley, (Mass Eric) in their public and family lives. The book will utilize Augmented Reality to bring the characters and story to life in full motion on mobile devices,” say the Coverleys. 

The Augmented Reality feature of the book will allow the reader to use a tablet or phone to hover over images in the book and view videos of Miss Lou and other artists performing. 

“You will be able to virtually sit in on a performance, or watch interviews with Miss Lou and company. The moving image content for this project will be sourced from original content created for the documentary, and motion pictures from the archives at the National Library of Jamaica (NLJ), the Coverley Collection, plus McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario in Canada.

​On the matter of lifestyle, Clayton notes that “Jamaican life is often one full of style, with the most music produced, most athletes, most churches, and the most dressmakers per capita,” and “this would have to be a place to find that rare style mixed with heritage. Walk Good Apparel doesn't disappoint!”

Photo credit: Clayton Coverley        The 'Walk Good' logo that adorns apparel.

 “Miss Lou used to say, "Walk Good and may good duppy follow you"  -- this proverb of hers meant to be good on your life journey and may blessings and good favour follow you always,” says her grandson.

Meanwhile, father and son are planning to be in Jamaica next month for the unveiling of the Miss Lou statue and the dedication of a square in Gordon Town which will be ready by September 7, 2018 – the 99^th anniversary of her birthday.

In the meantime, the Jamaican Canadian Association (JCA) is planning a trip to Jamaica in September 2019 to celebrate the opening of Ms. Lou Square in Gordon Town.

The special recognition is a legacy project of Jamaica 50th celebrations in Toronto and spearheaded by Pamela Appelt, a former Canadian citizenship court judge and co-executor of the estate of Louise Bennett-Coverley.  

September 7, 2019 will mark the 100th anniversary of the birthday of the celebrated Jamaican folklorist, cultural ambassador, storyteller, poet and author.

“JCA’s trip, tentatively scheduled for September 2019, will allow members, especially those who having been living in Canada for more than forty years, to experience some of the country’s cultural spaces and reflect on Jamaica’s evolution. Day trips to Devon House, National Gallery Jamaica, the Bob Marley museum and Maroon Town are some of the proposed sites.  In addition, we will give back to our beloved country during a day of caring,” says Adaoma Patterson, president of the JCA, whose co-chairs for the trip are Michelle McKenzie-Dolly and Audrey Campbell.

Bennett-Coverley lived in Toronto for almost twenty years and died on July 26, 2006 at the age of 86. She was predeceased her husband, Eric “Chalk Talk” Coverley, in 2002.

Anyone seeking more information about the film or the limited edition coffee table book can visit missloujamaica.com, and www.walk-good.com for the WalkGood Apparel.

[This story was published in the North American Weekly Gleaner, July 26, 2018 on the twelfth anniversary of the passing of Miss Lou.]