I DON’T think I am going to write my autobiography. I have been around a long time and have seen sufficient things that will make Guyanese interested in what I have to say, but it doesn’t look as though I will do it. Libel will get in the way because there is so much I have to say about people, places and events.
My daughter says she may write it, but she could only do it with my extensive involvement, and I don’t know if I will be willing. What I have done from time to time in these thousands of columns of mine is to offer autobiographical snippets. This article here is one of those snippets.

I write about five persons whose contributions to my ontology made the evolution of my life possible. Without the input of these five persons I would never have made it in life. These people are responsible for me being alive and have substance as a human. There would never have been me without them.
Of the five persons, I did not interact with one of them – President Desmond Hoyte. I never knew or saw him. But his decision on me was one of the turning points in my life. When I returned from working in Grenada, President Burnham re-issued his fatwa on me. I must not be employed in Guyana, so UG was prevented from implementing its offer to me.
When Burnham died, Professors Clive Thomas, Harold Lutchman and Rudy James approached President Hoyte to remove Burnham’s ban. He did so, and I ended up spending 26 years as a lecturer at UG, in which I learned so much about the Guyanese people. In my last year at teaching at the Berbice Campus, my students composed a poem for me. It stands on the wall just as you enter my house. Here is an extract:
Mr. Freddie Kissoon
A character of his own
Built in ideology
Created by Philosophy
A man with a smile
Analyzing the world
Without a care
Always in a haste
Next is Shruti Kant, the then principal of the then high school, Guyana Oriental College. I got to know Shruti through two friends of mine who were students. I said to Shruti that I don’t have food to eat or clothes to wear, much less to find money to pay for afternoon GCE lessons. Shruti allowed me to attend classes for free. I passed and entered UG. Without Shruti Kant, I would never have made it in life.

Next is Laurie Lewis, then commissioner of police, then Chief of Intelligence. In 1976, I refused to do compulsory National Service at UG and was expelled. I knew Laurie from UG because the government had a branch of the Ministry of National Development at UG, and Laurie had an office there. At the time, he was seconded to the Guyana National Service.
I never went to high school and none of my siblings did, so my parents were depressed that I was the only achiever in the family but would not make it. One day, I encountered Laurie and he said “Go back to UG; you are a bright boy that [sic] will go far. Leave the National Service thing to me. Laurie had a National Service office on Smyth Street.
He told me to do national service in his office. For three months I did nothing in Laurie’s office. I just reported and went home and slept many days and spent time courting my girlfriend, Janet Mohamed. After the three months was up, Laurie handed me a signed completion form to take to UG. I was allowed to complete my studies. What would have become of me without Laurie Lewis?
Next is Yesu Persaud, the father I never had. Yesu was extremely generous to me throughout my adult life and today I live in a proper house because of Yesu and Anil Nandlall. Each time, the Freddie Kissoon name got me into a hostile anti-Kissoon circumstance; Yesu was there for me.
Finally, there Anil Nandlall. I could never thank Anil for all he has done for me, including the house I currently live in. There is one situation that Anil saved me from that preserved my psychological integrity and perhaps my well-being. I got caught in a situation because of the Freddie Kissoon name.

It was impossible to extricate myself from this colossal act of victimisation. The forces against me were simply too powerful. My concern was for my family. Anil stepped in and in magnanimous expression of the power of human conscience, he saved me. Sadly, I cannot describe this situation, because it is too sensitive and may cause more than some ripples in Guyana. These, then, are the five persons who are responsible for the preservation of my ontology.
DISCLAIMER: The views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Guyana National Newspapers Limited