Sybil Leslie, a cultural ambassador of Jamaica and a centenarian has launched her latest book as a contribution to the effort to spread Jamaican culture and retain it’s cultural heritage, especially among the younger Jamaicans in the diaspora, as well as a wider American audience.
The 100-year-old’s passion about the springs to life from the pages of the new book “Uncle Zekie Seh: Tales of Old Jamaica”.
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The book tells the story of a fictitious character, Uncle Zekie, as he tells stories about his upbringing in Jamaica, referencing nostalgic aspects of the island country like chocolate tea, goat milk, ackee and saltfish and flour dumplings.
Leslie brings back fond memories of the island from many years ago, sharing iconic Jamaican portraits captured as classic moments in time – Jamaican Sunday dinner or the Harvest Festival – vignettes of life in the delightful “old Jamaica”. She titles these section: Food and Dining Traditions, Household Chores, Self-Care, Church, Having Fun, Celebrations, and Folklore, ending with the Anansi.
The aim behind it all, she says, is to bring “these rich traditions back to life.”
She hails from Bethel Town, Westmoreland, Jamaica, where she received her early education.
She knows that few have a great sense of the island’s history and traditions, and as a retired teacher and historian, Leslie is ideal candidate with a century of a stories to share.
She is a storyteller and published author, whose late husband Astley was a labor relations expert and represented Jamaica at the International Labour Organization.
Her work has earned her national honors from the Government of Jamaica and recognition from Jamaica diaspora organizations, including those in Atlanta.
Educated at Bethlehem Teachers College and with an M.A. in Educational Administration from the University the West Indies (UWI), Jamaica, she also holds and an M. Phil in History from UWI Cave Hill (Barbados).
She taught at different levels of the Jamaican education system, including Shortwood Teachers College, where she was head of the Social Studies Department, and at UWI Cave Hill. Sybil has published previous works, among them a series of four social studies textbooks for schools in Jamaica.
Uncle Zekie Seh will be the featured book in the first installment of a series of conversations on Jamaican culture as seen in the writings of women writers, moderated by Claudette Lindsay, host of the Caribbean Exchange on WEAA Morgan State radio in Baltimore, Maryland.
The series will begin in March.
