TRIBUTES FROM THE GUYANA NEWSPAPERS

Clarence was valiant in the fight to transform Guyana

Posted By Stabroek staff On April 21, 2010 @ 5:04 am In Letters | 12 Comments

Dear Editor,

Clarence Ellis was a good man and will continue to live in our minds as long as we continue to recognize his life’s work of fighting in the interest of right. Cowards die many times before their death, the valiant never taste of death but once, and so it was with Clarence Ellis who passed recently.

Clarence was valiant in his fight to help transform his native Guyana into a place of liberty for all. He was a true patriot who possessed a unique blend of love for and knowledge of his country combined with a sincere desire to engage anyone who was genuinely interested in positive change. Clarence dedicated his life to serving his country, which he did gallantly in various capacities for many years.

Until the very end his commitment to Guyana was unwavering. While we have many fond memories of Clarence, one in particular stands out that speaks to the essence of the man.

We remember visiting him in hospital just a few months ago; he was very sick at the time, and there he was reading, writing, and engaging us on Guyana, allowing us to drink from his fountain of knowledge.

Unlike many of his generation, he was unique in that he never assumed that because he was older he knew better.

He understood how to navigate the convergence of modernity with tradition, and he deliberately sought input from the younger generation. He always insisted that we were included in meetings even when others thought differently.

Those of us who were privileged to be in his company are the beneficiaries of a priceless education and for this we are forever indebted to him. Whether we were discussing the history of Guyana, local government, national government, banking and finance, or Guyana’s vast resources, Clarence understood the historical context and always had something illuminating to share on these various subjects.

We all held him in the greatest affection and respect. He was a fighter to the very end and in this respect; Claude McKay put it best: “like a man he stood against the murderous and cowardly pack, pressed against the wall dying but fighting back.” This was the essence of Clarence; a true son of the soil freed by death, the final liberator. We are saddened and profoundly grieved.

Goodbye our friend and mentor, you will be sorely missed. Yours faithfully, Floyd N Haynes Mark Walcott

Clarence Ellis dies, leaves legacy of sound economic practices

By Stabroek staff | April 20, 2010 in Local News

Former deputy governor of the Bank, Clarence Ellis has died, leaving a legacy of sound economic policies and years of committed work in the public service. He was in his late seventies.

Ellis, remembered for his firm stance against the economic direction in which the country was going in the 1980s, served in a number of capacities including simultaneously holding the positions of Deputy Governor of the Bank of Guyana and Chairman of the State Planning Committee.

Bank of Guyana Governor Lawrence Williams said yesterday that Ellis was an able and committed economist, who was passionate about his work, particularly his economic research projects and management of state enterprises. “He worked beyond the call of duty, sometimes well into the night,” Williams recalled, noting that Ellis was often at the bank completing work at late hours.

He said the OBEs [Old Bank Employees] would know Ellis well and pointed out that many of the current staff did not know him. He said Ellis was a disciplinarian “something the security guards who knew him can attest to”. Williams added that the bank mourns Ellis’s passing and he offered condolences to his family.

Former ambassador Ronald Austin called Ellis a “remarkable and honorable man,” saying the late economist was also a man of rock-solid integrity. His recollection of Ellis dates back to the eighties when he recalled Ellis had firmly opposed the economic direction in which the country was going. “He wrote extensively outlining his position, he also wrote memorandums [on the issue],” Austin said, adding that when an opening came for an Inter-American Develop-ment Bank (IDB) position Ellis was bypassed. But he said Ellis later went to the IDB as a senior advisor during the Hoyte years. He said it was unfortunate that Ellis had to demit office in 1992 when a new government assumed power.

Austin said Ellis was deeply concerned about the economic future of this country and was a man who believed in shared governance. Ellis supported cohesiveness and racial harmony, Austin stated, noting that Ellis’s leadership was critical to the development of many young people. “He will be missed, when people of his calibre passes a vacuum is created,” he added.

Austin said that very few people in this country possess Ellis’ strength, knowledge, courage and integrity. Further, Austin recalled that Ellis had a “superb” wife at his side. He offered condolences to the family saying it is rare to find people in the public service to serve with Ellis’ commitment.

http://www.kaieteurnewsonline.com/2010/04/20/a-tribute-to-clarence-ellis/

A tribute to Clarence Ellis

April 20, 2010 | By KNews | Filed Under Letters

Dear Editor,

Without doubt he was a warrior - first and foremost. Like Amilcar Cabral and Che Guevara he was humanity itself, and in danger, could share his last grain with a fellow warrior without a frown. (He and Patty gave me tea in London at 10pm when I simply dropped in and then out).

I had no problem arguing strategy with him….I knew he would never shoot me. That’s how I shall remember Clarence.

He was cultured and shaped a value that can be expressed as “no bow down”.

I attended “A Tribute to Rex Nettleford” at St Francais College NY where a poet recited Claude McKay’s famous poem: If We Must Die. I regard Nettleford as an Independence fighter using culture and particularly the Jamaica Dance Troupe as his weapon to reshape African culture in the Caribbean.

The recitation of McKay’s famous poem invoked in me Clarence Ellis again. Clarence Ellis should not be buried in a spot far from his native Guyana. He was a Guyana warrior and should be buried next to Damon’s statue in Anna Regina. Clarence and Cde. Damon were of the same Guyana warrior mold.

How many of you know the story of Damon and emancipation? Tommy Payne wrote a book about him.

Surely we will get books about Clarence Ellis. Clarence went to Queen’s in the 1940s, and he also ‘grounded’ with the youth of the 1950s (PNC’s Dalgety and the WPAs), the 1960s (Eric Phillips and Laurence Clarke), the 1970s (Kimani Nehusi), and maybe the 1980s…..a remarkable leader of the young.

Tom Dalgety