Miss Lou
Louise Simone Bennett-Coverley or Miss Lou, OM, OJ, MBE (September 7th, 1919 – July 26th, 2006) was a Jamaican folklorist, poet, writer and educator. Miss Lou worked to preserve the practice of presenting Jamaican poetry, folk songs and stories in the Jamaican dialect, patois (creole). She became instrumental in establishing the validity of Jamaica's dialect for literary expression.
Back in those days, being on Ring Ding was like hitting the lotto. I am happy to say that I, DJ Fidel, was given the one-in-a-million opportunity to play a part in her monumental journey, as I was selected by my school, not once, but on two separate occasions to travel to JBC TV and participate in her National TV programme called Ring Ding.
As the years went by, she became known as Jamaica's First Lady Of Comedy and Theatre.
As Miss Lou became older, there was a movement of persons who were demanding that the Jamaican government make her an official national hero of Jamaica.
On July 26, 2006, Miss Lou passed on in Canada. Her resting place is Jamaica's National Heroes Park.
After retirement, Miss Lou went back on stage one more time. To see a snippet of one of Miss Lou's final on-stage performances before her death, join the Facebook group called "JAMAICANS WORLDWIDE". Here is the link: Facebook.com/groups/JamaicansWorldwide