Dr. Basil Kong releases “Bad Boy from Jamaica: The Garnett Myrie Story”. The book is the inspirational and captivating true story of Garnett Myrie’s coming of age, life struggles and the fight for social justice. The story is told from the perspective of Dr. Kong, his childhood friend.
Dr. Kong shares some of his insights regarding the book.
What was your Inspiration?
KONG: My inspiration was Mark Twain. I wanted to particularly describe old time Jamaican culture like Twain did for rural United States.
A yew years ago I met up and had lunch with the famed Jamaican writer Anthony Winkler and told him about my intentions on writing the book. He gave me some
directions and thought it was a brilliant idea and really wanted to dive deep into the writing the book.
A yew years ago I met up and had lunch with the famed Jamaican writer Anthony Winkler and told him about my intentions on writing the book. He gave me some
directions and thought it was a brilliant idea and really wanted to dive deep into the writing the book.
Early Life:
KONG: There is probably more about my early life in the book than Myrie. That’s about where the resemblance ends as he went off to war and I came to the United States and lived a blessed existence. I have no “outside children” and he has a dozen. My wife would never put up with what Mrs. Myrie tolerated. What I so admire about Myrie is that he did not run away from Jamaica and became wealthy in the process. Most Jamaicans believe that they must “go a farin” to succeed economically. Apart from his health, he has had an incredible life. At the time when industrial Jamaica was falling apart he was trying to build a new infrastructure. He was trying to re-invigorated village life that was changed by the movement away from colonial life in Jamaica. Myrie saw his role as fighting against the remnants of the colonial system and attempting to assist in rebuilding a new society. He started with the village he grew up in and which brought him treasured fond memories. The bad boy jacket on his shoulder; he grew up that way, he lived it and growing up in the village I saw some of it first hand.
Relationship with Myrie:
When I returned to Jamaica in 2008 and reconnected with Myrie, the more he told me about his life, the more I realized that he was the perfect vehicle to show off Jamaica. He was always a “bad boy” and as you know “Bad Boys” are popular with Jamaican women!
The book is available at book stores as well as on Amazon at: http://amzn.com/
