…E.R. Braithwaite dies at 104

Edward Ricardo Braithwaite, the Guyanese author, educator and diplomat whose years teaching in the slums of London’s East End inspired the international best-seller “To Sir, With Love” and the popular Sidney Poitier movie of the same name, has died at age 104.
Braithwaite’s companion, Ginette Ast, told The Associated Press that he became ill Monday and died at the Adventist HealthCare Shady Grove Medical Center in Rockville, Maryland.

Schooled in Guyana, the U.S. and Britain, Braithwaite wrote several fiction and nonfiction books, often focusing on racism and class and the contrast between first world and colonial cultures. He was regarded as an early and overlooked chronicler of Britain from a non-white’s perspective, his admirers including the authors Hanif Kureishi and Caryl Phillips, AP said in a report.

President David Granger in a statement said that Guyana deeply mourns the passing of the late educator, author and diplomat. President Granger said that Mr. Braithwaite was an eminent Guyanese and distinguished diplomat and extends condolences to his family at this time. “Mr. Braithwaite lived a full and remarkable life, having authored ‘Choice of Straws’ (1965), ‘A Kind of Homecoming’ (1961), ‘Paid Servant’ (1962) and most famously, the 1959 ‘To Sir, With Love,’ which was made into the 1967 British hit film of the same title; starring Sidney Poitier and singer Lulu.”

Born in Georgetown on June 27, 1912, Braithwaite attended the St. Ambrose Primary School in Alberttown, before moving on to Queen’s College, Guyana, and then the City College of New York (1940). He joined the Royal Air Force as a Pilot, during World War II, before leaving to attend the University of Cambridge (1949), where he earned a Master’s Degree in Physics. Braithwaite later became a School Master in London, during the period 1950-1957, a Welfare Officer at the London County Council from 1958-1960 and a Human Rights Officer of World Veterans Federation from 1960 to 1963. He was the first Guyanese to hold the post of Ambassador to the United Nations (UN) in 1967. This led, subsequently, to his election as President of the UN Council for South West Africa in 1968. He later served as Guyana’s Ambassador to Venezuela.

In 2012, as he celebrated his 100th birthday, he was bestowed with the Cacique Crown of Honour for his outstanding contribution in the field of literature and effective service as a diplomat. “President Granger, on behalf of the Government and people of Guyana, extends heartfelt sympathy to his partner, Ms. Ginette Ast as well as other family members and friends of the late Mr. Edward Ricardo Braithwaite (E.R. Braithwaite), CCH even as the nation reflects, with gratitude on his contribution to the country,” the statement ended.

“To Sir, With Love,” his first and most famous book, was published in 1959. The autobiographical tale about how a West Indian of patrician manner scolded, encouraged and befriended a rowdy, mostly white class of East End teens, who in turn softened him, was an immediate success and a natural for film. Poitier played Braithwaite (renamed Thackeray) in the 1967 release and the pop star Lulu was featured as one of the students. The title song, performed on screen and on record by Lulu, became a No. 1 hit. Audiences loved the movie, but critics found it too sentimental: Braithwaite agreed. He criticized director-screenwriter James Clavell for downplaying the author’s interracial romance with a fellow teacher and said Poitier’s performance was too light-hearted, AP reported.

Parents
Both of Braithwaite’s parents went to Oxford University and he describes growing up with education, achievement, and parental pride surrounding him. His father was a gold and diamond miner and his mother was a homemaker. He attended Queen’s College, Guyana, and then the City College of New York (1940). During World War II, he joined the Royal Air Force as a pilot – he would later describe this experience as one where he had felt no discrimination based on his skin colour or ethnicity. After the war, despite his extensive training, Braithwaite could not find work in his field and, disillusioned, reluctantly took up a job as a schoolteacher in the East End of London. The book To Sir, With Love (1959) was based on his experiences there.

While writing his book about the school, Braithwaite turned to social work and it became his job to find foster homes for non-white children for the London County Council. His experiences resulted in his second novel Paid Servant (1962). Braithwaite’s numerous writings have primarily dealt with the difficulties of being an educated black man, a black social worker, a black teacher, and simply a human being in inhumane circumstances.

Ban on book
In 1973, the South African ban on Braithwaite’s books was lifted and he reluctantly applied to visit the country. He was granted a visa and the status “honorary white” which gave him significantly more privileges than the indigenous black population, but less than the whites. He recorded the experiences and horror he witnessed during the six weeks he spent in South Africa in Honorary White (London: The Bodley Head, 1975). Braithwaite continued to write novels and short stories throughout his long international career as an educational consultant and lecturer for UNESCO, permanent representative to the United Nations for Guyana, Guyana’s ambassador to Venezuela, and academic.

He taught English studies at New York University; in 2002, was writer-in-residence at Howard University, Washington, D.C.; associated himself with Manchester Community College (Connecticut), during the 2005–06 academic year as visiting professor, also serving as commencement speaker and receiving an honorary degree. He turned 100 in June 2012.Braithwaite lived in Washington, D.C.