Political Encounters 1946-2016

Ferdinand Ferreira, born into economic and cultural deprivation wrought by British colonialism, is an eye witness to and participant in the modern political history of Trinidad and Tobago. He followed Dr Eric Williams like an addict yet maintained sufficient dispassion to publicly challenge his master. The fracture never healed. A self-taught graduate of the University of Woodford Square, a committed reader, a proud docker and an everyday analyst, Ferdie’s byline has featured in all the major daily and weekly newspapers in Trinidad. In those articles, a selection of which is published here, he demonstrates his capacity for analytical distance even as he lives inside the political vortex up to today. Flush with stories of people and places, historical corrections and behind-the-scenes observations, Ferdie offers his compatriots an absorbing history in his own inimitable voice.