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September 2011
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Teacher, Friend and MentorBy Jennifer Joseph There are many who can claim Pat Bishop as friend and mentor. I consider myself to be one of those persons so privileged, for the past 40 plus years. Pat was first my teacher at Bishop Anstey High School in the 1960s. She taught me both History and Art. I was really hopeless at the Art but certainly benefitted from her teaching skills and guidance in History in fifth and sixth forms. She provided us with what she called the perfect formula for writing papers and passing history exams, advising that it was not sufficient to have knowledge of the subject matter, but that the opening paragraph/statement was most important and must carry the analysis and answer to the question posed; this then had to be topped off with an excellent conclusion. She drilled us in this art of writing instead of merely documenting facts. Thanks to her, we all did well in the exams. I adopted it as a lifelong formula.
When Pat returned from Jamaica a few years later in 1974, we reconnected. I was then a final-year student at UWI and she was tutoring in History. I was a member of the birdsong Steel Orchestra that comprised UWI students and staff. Practice sessions took place at the old Guild Hall, now Daaga Auditorium. I don’t recall exactly how Pat came to birdsong, but I suspect that it may have been the Hilarian connection since there were several of us from Bishop Anstey whom she knew. There began a long relationship between Pat and birdsong. Even before the revival of the national steelband festival in the 1980s, she was trying to teach classical music to birdsong. We struggled with ‘Malaguena’, and a few other pieces. She also wrote an opera for pan and voice entitled “The Swamp” and we were the chosen band. Unfortunately, that particular opera never got to the stage but she continued to persevere. Our friendship consolidated in those early years of birdsong. We shared a common interest in music and pan in particular. We were both living in St. James and most times, would drive up to Campus together. In 1982 and 1984, Pat conducted birdsong for the National Steelband Festival and we made it to the finals and were adjudged winner of the Best Test Piece. And this, I think, is one of Pat’s greatest strengths –her eye for detail and her drive for perfection which, no doubt propelled Lydians and Despers to great heights and enriched her work as an artist.
I was really pleased and proud to have assisted her as she took Despers through the paces for their return to the national steelband festival in 1986. And while I never sang a note in the Lydians, I occasionally turned pages for the accompanist or, on Pat’s insistence, played the glockenspiel in the orchestra for one of the operas! One could never say no to Pat. But then, she also appeared incapable of saying no to her friends or to any cause that she considered noble. I really don’t know how she made the time, but Pat was always available to assist me in my own activities and endeavours, ranging from writing speeches, preparing music for my Sunday School children, or planning Library Association activities during my tenure as president – to developing a fund-raising project to restore the pipe organ at the Tranquillity Methodist Church. We spent many hours discussing life, local, regional and international issues. Pat possessed a wry sense of humour and a dry sarcasm which she brought to many a discussion. In moments of depression and despair, she has provided that word of comfort and inspiration as well as the reprimand. I remember her once literally ordering me not to pamper myself over seeming illness because there was “so much work to be done in the society”. This, of course, was the way she lived her life to the very end. In effect, I would say that Pat Bishop has had a very positive influence on my life, teaching me that through perseverance and commitment, one can achieve what may have seemed impossible; that one should never settle for mediocrity but should always strive for excellence; and that friendship means sharing and support. –Jennifer Joseph is the University and Campus Librarian at the St. Augustine Campus of The UWI.
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But I think it was during the period 1966-1967 when she was my form mistress that the foundation for the long years of friendship and mentorship was laid. Pat was no ordinary form mistress. On the first day, she strenuously advised the group of us (27) who were repeating fifth form in order to get better grades in general or better grades for our sixth form subjects that “Dey really don’t want all yuh in dis school – so we have to show dem.” She proceeded to take a personal interest in each one of us, advising that she would deal with any teacher who was ‘giving trouble’. She assisted each one of us in developing a study plan and we had to give her weekly, individual reports of our progress or heaven forbid, the lack thereof. Some of those sessions were really tough as Pat was always a hard taskmaster and didn’t put water in her mouth to say anything! Nevertheless, she provided us with invaluable guidance and support and we were motivated to succeed through that personal interest and the fact that we were, in effect, co-conspirators. The small group of us who went on to pursue history in sixth form continued to benefit from her vast knowledge and expert teaching skills. We were her ‘girls’ and she was our friend. We were privileged to be invited to her house and to meet her parents, not simply as students, but as friends. She left shortly thereafter for Jamaica.
As a frequent visitor to her house, I have been privileged over the years to listen to her as she developed the germ of an idea for a painting, an art exhibition, or a Lydians concert; or to listen to classical music as she chose items for Despers and any other band that asked her. Sometimes I would receive an urgent call to find some remote bit of information in a library as she worked on her various projects (which also included people!).