{"id":1195,"date":"2019-05-03T22:04:02","date_gmt":"2019-05-04T02:04:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.montserratspotlight.com\/?p=1195"},"modified":"2020-05-20T13:31:02","modified_gmt":"2020-05-20T17:31:02","slug":"dr-sir-prince-ramsey-antiguan-legend-and-calypso-writer-dies-at-75","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.montserratspotlight.com\/?p=1195","title":{"rendered":"Dr. Sir Prince Ramsey, Antiguan physician and calypso writer, dies"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Dr. Sir Prince Ramsey, an award-winning physician and renowned calypso writer who penned the popular song Man Is Nothing But Dust<\/em> for Montserrat\u2019s Keithroy \u201cDe Bear\u201d Morson, died Friday afternoon after a long battle with cancer. He was 75.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ramsey, who has received numerous accolades for his work in educating the Caribbean about HIV\/AIDS, returned to his native Antigua last week after being treated for about two months at the University of Miami Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center. On Thursday, he underwent what turned out to be his final chemotherapy session.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHe was a smiling man, a happy man, a great man,\u201d said 10-time Montserrat calypso monarch Justin \u201cHero\u201d Cassell, who collaborated with Ramsey on many songs and spoke to him at least once a week. \u201cWe probably had a million conversations about calypso. He treasured friendships.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2010, Cassell\u2019s brother, soca legend Alphonsus \u201cArrow\u201d Cassell, died from cerebral cancer. During Arrow\u2019s illness, Ramsey was a trusted consultant for the family who helped coordinate Arrow\u2019s care in Antigua. Although oncology was not Ramsey\u2019s field of medicine, he actually helped diagnose Arrow\u2019s illness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking in 2010, Ramsey said: \u201cArrow\u2019s family called me and told me that whenever he picks up something with his left hand, he drops it. I immediately told them that means something is wrong with the right side of his brain.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Everton \u201cReality\u201d Weekes, a five-time Montserrat calypso monarch who also collaborated with Ramsey, was stunned to hear of his friend\u2019s passing Friday. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s really hard to talk about it right now,\u201d Weekes said. \u201cThe last time I spoke to him he told me he was getting better. He was the most genuine, honest person I ever met in my life. He\u2019s the greatest human being I\u2019ve ever known.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Besides\nbeing a respected and popular family physician, Ramsey was a businessman whose ventures\nincluded banking, pharmaceuticals, insurance and a rental-car company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Born in Willikies in rural Antigua, Ramsey was one of eight children. At 15, he traveled to Oxford, where his elder brother resided. Ramsey\u2019s father thought it would be beneficial for Prince to finish his secondary education in the UK. Ramsey’s first interest was theology. \u201cI wanted to be a priest,\u201d he said smiling during an interview with ABS TV Antigua in 1995. \u201cI was brought up in a Christian environment.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While in Oxford, Ramsey got a job as an orderly at a hospital. That spurred his interest in medicine and public service. However, he grew tired of the racism he encountered in school and returned to Antigua. He later returned to the Oxford school and asked to be enrolled in the science department. He worked at a local hospital as a lab technologist, then at the Royal Free Hospital in London on a fellowship in clinical biochemistry. In 1969, he enrolled at the University of the West Indies in Mona, Jamaica, to formally study medicine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


“He was the most genuine, honest person I ever met. He\u2019s the greatest human being I\u2019ve ever known.”<\/p>Everton “Reality” Weekes, on Dr. Sir Prince Ramsey<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Ramsey\u2019s passion eventually became the area of family planning. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAt the home\nwhere I lived in Oxford, my brother had six children born within about five to seven\nyears,\u201d he told ABS TV. \u201cI saw the hardships those children had. I don\u2019t think\nchildren should be brought into the world having this type of suffering. As a\nstudent in Jamaica I would go to the schools and lecture about family planning.\u201d\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The AIDS epidemic in the 1980s forced Ramsey to expand his family planning crusade in order to educate the public. Ramsey served on the board of the Antigua Planned Parenthood Association and was president of the Antigua & Barbuda Medical Association from 1991 to 1992. He held HIV\/AIDS symposiums around the Caribbean, including in Montserrat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His quest to edify the public carried over to his calypso writing. In 1988, he wrote the song AIDS<\/em> for calypso legend McLean \u201cShort Shirt\u201d Emmanuel, who won the crown. In 2002, he wrote Protect Yourself<\/em> for Lynwall \u201cZero\u201d Joseph, who had contracted HIV. Zero also won the crown, then teamed with Ramsey to promote AIDS prevention throughout Antigua. He died in 2004.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ramsey also worked with other Antigua calypsonians such as Joseph \u201cCalypso Joe\u201d Hunte, Paul \u201cObstinate\u201d Richards and Trevor \u201cZacari\u201d King, all former monarchs. He also helped Toriano \u201cOnyan\u201d Edwards of Burning Flames win four crowns in a row (1997-2000).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

De Bear says he considers Man Is Nothing But Dust <\/em>to be Ramsey’s greatest composition. “He wrote the lyrics and me and Daryl Edwards did the melody,” he said.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Among the numerous awards Ramsey has won: Order of Merit for Outstanding Contribution to Antigua & Barbuda (1989), Distinguished Service Award from the Caribbean Family Planning Affiliation (1992), and Order of Distinction (1994). In 2016 he was awarded an honorary Doctor of Science degree by the University of the West Indies for his work in the field of HIV\/AIDS.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2007, the Government of Antigua & Barbuda presented him with the country\u2019s highest award: the Knight Grand Cross of the Most Distinguished Order of the Nation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ramsey was also an avid domino player and a member of a local domino club. \u201cI can play dominoes every day if you let me,\u201d he once said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tributes poured in on social media Friday evening as word of Ramsey’s passing spread. The Government of Antigua & Barbuda confirmed that Ramsey will be honored with a state funeral.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“He was my friend, doctor, writer and inspirer,” De Bear says. “I miss him forever.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ramsey is survived by his wife Ava and sons Renard and Ryan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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