Overcoming life's turbulence

Title: It Can Be Done

Author: Dr Henry Lowe

Reviewer: Gary Spaulding

Bolstered by a sturdy family support unit and a daring drive to succeed, Henry Isaac Lowe is one of those rare breeds - a man among men - who is clearly impatient with, and intolerant of, the distracting influences that have emerged in his path to the realm of dizzying successes and the acme of several endeavours.

The absorbing account of Lowe's sometimes tumultuous expedition through the often times turbulent sea of life, fascinatingly lays bare the imagery of a man with compulsive willpower that has served him well to shape his multi-faceted characteristics.

Clearly a life shaped by a strong family culture, Lowe appears to have utilised his beginnings to good effect, as his unquestionable versatility has propelled him through the vicissitudes of life in a rather remarkable way.

His conquests are numerous as much as they are varied, as he crosses path with many in the political sphere.

It is, therefore, hardly surprising that in the autobiography, aptly titled It Can Be Done, Lowe is dedicated to his mother, Josephine, and late father, David.

In simple and easily understandable prose, Lowe highlights his acquaintance with grief with his mortal enemy, the deadly cancerous disease that has raged mercilessly through his family, claiming the lives of three of his siblings and robbing him of some of the joys and happiness that is due to him.

Through it all, the man who has been endowed with a unique brand of resoluteness and doggedness, has battled his way to the zenith of four tough professional areas by overcoming numerous hurdles and challenges lesser mortals would find insurmountable.

Lowe refers in almost reverential terms, throughout his account, about the love, faith and courage of his parents as the source of his abiding inspiration.

How his mother met his father serves as an eloquent testimony of how his life was shaped by a rare brand of courage and determination that would put him in good stead for the years ahead at Calabar High School and beyond.

VARIOUS CHALLENGES

For the challenges that greeted Lowe on his numerous forays in a range of areas were many and varied and served to verify an indomitable spirit and admirable strength of mind with which Lowe was armed as he went into battle.

His stint at the University of the West Indies, his foray into the classroom and his defiant bid to defeat his formidable foe that ran amok in his family, that is cancer, prepared him for great things in life.

Not to mention Lowe's triumph over man-made calamities of enmity, betrayal and envy.

His fascination with academia; his love for his country and enthralled by science and technology appear to be some of the forces that helped to drive this strong-willed, self-made man in the person he is today.

Henry Lowe's autobiography ought to be a must-read for persons aspiring to great heights.