by Charles Gladden
BELIZE CITY, Wed. July 24, 2024
A biography of the fourth prime minster of Belize, Rt. Hon. Dean Barrow, was launched on Wednesday, July 24. The publication was penned by Belizean author, Lawrence Vernon and is titled, “The Dean Barrow Story.”
“Since the lives and achievements of three prime ministers – George Price, Manuel Esquivel, and Said Musa – have been recorded in biographical sketches, and over the years, I thought that it would be only fitting that a biography of the fourth prime minister be written on Dean Barrow. I’m happy to help him join the biographical act of the previous prime ministers,” said Vernon.
Before becoming a three-time prime minister, Barrow entered the political arena as a candidate in the Belize City Council elections in December of 1983. In the early 70s, he went to work at his uncle’s law firm until establishing his own.
The book’s opening chapter, entitled, “Hail and Farewell,” examines Barrow’s final Independence Day speech as prime minister amid the COVID pandemic in 2020, and is used by Vernon to grab readers’ attention.
“His birth and early days are relegated to the second chapter, and the middle chapter is described in formation that the readers might already be acquainted with or want to know more about,” Vernon said. “I try to develop in each chapter following from the previous one to build up a fully rounded, believable person. Central to this, I oftentimes use Dean Barrow’s own words to relate aspects of his story in the book. His mastery of diction and his gracious and universal reading appetite must have been the result of his delving into the realms of classical and contemporary literature, exemplified in his great gift of oratory,” he further mentioned.
While writing the biography, Vernon read the biographies of several influential persons such as George Price, Michael Manley, Nelson Mandela, and others. “In the minds of all those persons’ biographies, there must have been the realization that their heritage had to be preserved and honored. So, in my mind, it was of utmost importance that I document the nature of Dean Barrow and his contribution to Belize,” he explained.
Vernon is one of Belize’s most prolific writers of his generation and spent the majority of his years as a librarian at the Belize National Library Service from 1956 until his retirement in 1992 as Chief Librarian. In the same year, he joined the University College of Belize (UCB)—now the University of Belize (UB)—and remained there until his retirement in 2003, when he returned to the National Library Service until his final retirement in 2021.
Vernon has a large collection of publications under his name, including books, articles, and book reviews.
According to Vernon, this biography aims to provide an unbiased assessment of Barrow’s life and times,
It is Vernon’s twelfth publication and fifth biography.
The literary piece took two years to complete, and can be bought at the Angelus Press for $40.