Veronica Blake Carnegie presents her second book

Mel Cooke, Sunday Gleaner Writer

Veronica Blake Carnegie reflected on once upon a time when she spoke at the launch of her second book in about three months last Thursday afternoon. She told those gathered at the St Andrew Parish Library, Tom Redcam Drive, that "once upon a time begins a story, and when we were young we looked forward to 'once upon a time'".

"It is a good beginning for any story," Blake Carnegie said, adding that once one hears that phrase "a good story is always coming".

Then she reflected on teaching, having had a lifetime of classroom involvement, reflecting that it is one of the few careers where people enquire "you still teaching?". Still, she added, "It is changing. Maybe they are getting more money."

There was laughter when she said, "I am not teaching now, they call me author. If that is not black dog for monkey, what is? Where is the money?"

'Unemployed'

Blake Carnegie told the humorous tale of a friend in England, who went to the police to report a problem with his landlord. The policeman took all the details of his address, name and age as they were given, but when the complainant said he was a playwright and actor, the policeman promptly put down 'unemployed'.

Whether creative artists are automatically considered 'unemployed' or not, Blake Carnegie ended with the pledge to always be an author.

Guest speaker Lorna Golding, in her capacity as chairman of the Jamaica Early Childhood Development Foundation, commended Blake Carnegie on her work, saying, "Your work gives us that optimism to carry on, when the urge to give up is strong". And, launching Leaving Home and Other Stories, officially, executive director of the Institute of Jamaica, Vivian Crawford, said, "The book is relevant to everyone. Think of your first home or your present home - or if you have left home".

He ended by naming Blake Carnegie as one of the MAD persons - those who Make a Difference.

The readings from Leaving Home and Other Stories were left to Winsome Laidlaw, Sonja Hurd and Carolyn Allen, who did 'Miss Andrews', 'Just Once' and 'Justis' respectively. The last was a treatment of the escalation of what started out as two boys picking mangoes from a woman's tree, into a mob beating and tying up two policemen (who had shot the lady's dog, which bit them when they responded to her 119 call). A JTV van arrived for the crew to record young people in designer clothes writing up placards with black markers, demanding "we want Justis".