Dear Editor,

The late Paul Lawrence Adderley will be remembered and celebrated in the Commonwealth of The Bahamas as long as our nation exists. He was, truly, a man for all seasons. I first met this fine gentleman as a mere youth while he was giving one of his orations to a Supreme Court jury. His speaking style was one of a kind. Listening to him that afternoon, I immediately determined that I would also become a lawyer. A few weeks later I approached him when I saw him at the Registry of the Supreme Court, then located within the precincts of the main building on Bank Lane and Parliament Street.

We discussed my goal to enter the legal profession and he recommended that I go off to London, enter university and enroll in one of the Inns of Court. His advice was followed and the rest is history. After being admitted to the bar here at home, Adderley and I became fast friends and colleagues. His counsel and advice were always welcomed. As a politician he was different from the run of the mill politicians and was never motivated by lucre as he was born "the Prince of Poinciana Hill". He came from an illustrious family and took public service as an integral part of his life.

As an elected member of the House of Assembly his debating style and preparation were never equaled by any of his colleagues, save and except for the late great and deeply lamented Sir Lynden Oscar Pindling. He served in several of Sir Lynden's administrations as attorney general, minister of foreign affairs, minister of finance and minister of education. While serving in the latter capacity he coined the now fabled expression: Adderley's Law.

Adderley's Law envisioned an educational system where no Bahamian student would graduate from high school as a virtual illiterate. He sought to instill discipline, worth and dignity within all of our students. His motto was to strive for excellence. Had his successors in the Ministry of Education followed his mantra I dare say that our national grade average would not be what it is today. The Honorable Paul Lawrence Adderley, however, was a man before his time and a prophet crying in the wilderness.

When he parted company with the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) back in the 1960s, many thought of him as a political has-been. He left on matters of principle and established the National Democratic Party in a hostile political environment. Later he would reconcile with the PLP and become a fundamental pillar of successive Pindling administrations. Adderley, truly, was a man for all seasons. I thank God for the privilege of having known him and for being able to talk to him on all manner of topics as he would walk to his then law chambers located on Fredrick Street.

To his wife and daughters, on behalf of my family and I, I extended condolences but also encouragement. Their husband and father was a special breed of Bahamian and his life was not in vain. The Prince of Poinciana Hill was an example of a real man whom all manner of Bahamians youth and males should seek to emulate. And so, as we bid farewell to a true son of the soil, let us remember that death is a road which we will all travel, no matter how much we would wish to detour or even get off. Paul Lawrence Adderley has run his race and he ran it well. Our political evolution and collective lives are much better off thanks to his incomparable contributions. To God then, in all things, as we pay our last respects to "Sir" Paul, be the glory. - Ortland H. Bodie Jr.

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