Greetings All,
A few weeks ago,
the brilliant book “The Very Reverend J.
C. Faye: His Life and Times – A Biography” was launched at the Relax Sahel
Hotel in Bijilo, The
The biography
chronicles the totality of the life of Rev. Faye focusing, in some detail, on
four areas in which he made significant contributions, namely, education, the
politics of liberation, the Church, and philanthropy. A review is expected in
the coming weeks. Suffice it to note that this is the first output of “The Gambia: Leading Political
Personalities in the Decolonization and early Post-Independence Era – The
Biography Project” which, in turn, is one of several projects under “The Gambia Leadership Programme” (GAMLEAP).
In addition to
that on Rev. Faye, other biographies to be documented under this project are
Edward Francis Small, Ibrahima Garba Jahumpa, Pierre Sarr Njie and Sir Dawda
Jawara. Of an earlier era is Sir Samuel Forster whose own biography would, in
many ways, bring out the generational transition for the political debates and
actions in the 1950s. The stand-alone biographical accounts of these six
personalities (Jawara, Faye, Small, Njie, Jahumpa and Forster) will, among
other things, be tracing their lives, family lineage, education, professional
activities and particularly their politics.
The designated
authors are Dr Jeggan C. Senghor – Reverend J.C Faye; Dr Abou Jeng – Pierre Sarr
Njie; Professors Abdoulaye and Paula Saine – Sir Dawda Jawara; Dr David Perfect
– Edward Francis Small; Dr Ebrima Ceesay – Ibrahima M. Garba-Jahumpa; and Dr
Assan Sarr – Sir Samuel Forster.
Whilst awaiting
completion of these six full-length stand-alone biographies, an edited
collection/book by Dr Jeggan C. Senghor, of abridged versions is going to be
published in the course of this year. Furthermore, a separate collection of
short portraits of other leading Gambians, past and present, is to be authored
by Hassoum Ceesay.
In charge of
project implementation is a team of researchers in The Gambia, the UK, and the USA.
Coordination and management of the whole programme will be the responsibility
of Dr Jeggan C. Senghor, Senior Research Fellow, School of Advanced Study,
University of London, England.
Meanwhile, copies
of the excellent biography of Reverend J.C Faye can be obtained at: http://www.authorhouse.co.uk/Bookstore/BookDetail.aspx?BookId=SKU-000913821
The book is also
available at other on-line booksellers.
Regards,
Ebrima