Orville Taylor | Help me to understand this a little bit more, François

He disarms me with the compliment that I am the only one who says his name correctly. Properly pronounced, it is ‘Froswaa Sein Joost’. Then as I reel from the remark, he drops the question, generally based on the news.

Although we met as UWI students in 1981, while he was a resident of Irvine Hall, and I used to run into him and Michael Sharpe at the many front-line dances in the late 1980s and early ‘90s, it was his guidance as Manager Radio Services that solidified his influence and our relationship. “Never go on air unprepared! But make it sound natural!”

My mother’s favourite maxim, “bird can’t fly and him pickney walk”, is so applicable. François was the son of legendary ‘Trinjamaican’ filmmaker Franklyn ‘Chappie’ St Juste, the consummate creative professional. Like his father, he wanted to know the true story, even if the public version was embellished for dramatic effect.

His work on FAME, the first FM station in the country, is unmatchable. An entire generation of broadcasters was mentored by him. All are still in awe of his wit and selflessness. His “Gooooooooood morning” in his inimitable voice, and the perfect synergy with Danae for more than 15 years set a watermark. What energy!

Funny, many did not think that he would have been able to replicate the morning male/female, good cop/bad cop dynamic as he joined Paula Anne, replacing the iconic Allan Magnus. Yet, it was as seamless as the legs of jeans, and they conspired to dig into our brains.

BUILT A TRIAD

And speaking of seamless; he built a triad on Radio Jamaica’s Hotline, finding a wonderful balance. Almost a perfect combination, but with one Stacy Lattisaw and perhaps a Bobby Brown, sandwiched between her and Johnny Gill, he pestered us daily at 7:30 am, asking us to help him understand some news item a little bit more. Clive Mullings, Emily Shields and I are grateful and miss him dearly.

This last quarter was busy. Myriad stories; no topic untouchable. Should the USA have invited Jamaica’s prime minister alone or is this a subversion of CARICOM? Is the Summit of the America’s the remit of the USA and thus, does it have the right to exclude Venezuela and Cuba? Should we get back to the death penalty?

He was on the ball regarding the Rio Cobre fish kill, nervous about the environmental impact as the Government announced expansion in tourism. We engaged domestic violence, and the back-to-school concerns.

Indeed, he asked the troubling question about teachers being burnt out and having to teach summer school, long before the current crisis in education with the educators leaving faster than people at a wake when the food is exhausted.

In our last conversation on August 10, the point was made that the departure of Lisa Hanna from representational politics was a less important story than the more than 200 unfilled vacancies in the classrooms and the projection that another 1,200 would leave by year end. We were right, because her party is holding its own and finding other internal matters to address; but more teachers are leaving as the policymakers mull recycling old blood in lieu of a transfusion.

Chappie’s son leaned heavily on me regarding labour. For him, it made no sense that Government kept the air traffic controllers ‘tied out’ and allowed them to take industrial action, despite it being outlawed for the essential services. Help was needed to understand why the negotiations for the NWC and police were taking long and why was there an announcement about paternity leave for the public sector, before the new collective labour agreement was concluded.

REMINDED

Still, as his father engaged me after reading my book on the history of labour policy in Jamaica, he reminded me of my mission and responsibility. You must tell the story and tell the truth, being one of the leading experts in the field of labour.

My friend François was the MC at its launch at the plantation in 2015. Chappie said that he liked it because it was defiant and almost ‘rude’.

I never told François but Chappie, like my academic and overall mentor Barry Chevannes, died on my birthday, giving me a cruel present. Chappie told me that there was work on the story of labour in Jamaica that was needed and I must finish writing it and put some of it to film. As I promised late labour minister, Shahine Robinson, I will complete the study on labour and will interrogate the current status of the Canadian farm work programme. François would’ve insisted.

My last WhatsApp communication was an unanswered message to François on August 20. His death not only took me by surprise and has me in an emotional tear-drenched tailspin, but it catapults me back to last year as COVID-19 came for us at RJR-GLEANER based at 32 Lyndhurst Road.

What a horror! Dionne Jackson Miller, Sharpe and I fought the killer. François was sending wishes as his own brother battled this scourge. As I recovered, suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and survivor’s guilt, because Sharpie did not return from the field of battle, he comforted me that his brother was alright.

When I returned to radio, two months after COVID-19, my brother and friend François St Juste hugged me and showed a deep appreciation for my healing.

So sad, I cannot do the same and my tears flow. This untimely death is a mystery. Please, François, help me to understand this, a little bit more.

Dr Orville Taylor is head of the Department of Sociology at The University of the West Indies, a radio talk-show host, and author of ‘Broken Promises, Hearts and Pockets’. Send feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com and tayloronblackline@hotmail.com.