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Three Popular American Women Novelist of yesteryears
Asked why she wrote it, she gave several reasons depending on who asked the question and what sort of social strata they were in. The tree she immortalized is an “Ailanthus belonging to a hardy variety of Chinese sunac which she saw as a symbol of survival, a living reminder of her own struggle to escape the pain and poverty of Williamsburg.”
I wrote last Sunday in this column that of the 13 long listed for the 2022 Booker Prize, six were Americans. There is a massive upsurge of American novels but when we were young avid readers of fiction (around 1950s and 60s) it was British novelists we mostly read, having only passing interest in such greats as Scott Fitzgerald and Earnest Hemingway. However the three books I most vividly remember are by American authors.
Being house bound, this time due to lack of petrol for my vehicle and ‘empty fuel tank off days’ of my two courteous three wheeler drivers, I got down to more fiction reading. The book I am engrossed in at the moment is a yellowing paged, small print paperback of Betty Smith’s A Tree grows in Brooklyn.
It is far from starry eyed devouring of the book as I did as a late teenager but I certainly am absorbed in it, in every detail of living poor in Brooklyn at the beginning of the 20th Century. And unlike in my salad days, I am interested in the author and so researched Betty Smith’s life, which is closely parallel to the life of Francie Nolan in the novel.
Betty Smith(1896-1972) was born of first generation German American parents in Brooklyn which certainly was a very poor, tenement-living mixture of Jews, recent American citizens and migrants mostly from Italy and Ireland. Christened Elizabeth Lilian Wehner, she went to three schools but had to give up education at 14-years to help her mother bring up her brother Johnny and a sister by working in the postal service.
She spent much time from early on in the local library. In 1919 she married George Smith who, wanting to study law, moved to Ann Arbour. There Betty had two daughters and once they were schooling, she turned to educating herself. She attended courses at the University of Michigan, and though without matriculation, obtained her BA and later her MA in Fine Arts from Yale.
While in the U of Michigan, she embarked on writing plays and one being accepted and produced, she won a prize for it. Betty and her husband divorced in 1935. She started her fiction writing then. She married twice more and died of pneumonia in Connecticut on January 17, 1972.
Her first novel, titled They lived in Brooklyn was rejected by several publishers until it was accepted by Harper and Brothers whose editors advised the title be changed to A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. Published in 1943, the novel became an instant bestseller. It is autobiographic since Betty is Francie Nolan of the novel.
Asked why she wrote it, she gave several reasons depending on who asked the question and what sort of social strata they were in. The tree she immortalized is an “Ailanthus belonging to a hardy variety of Chinese sunac which she saw as a symbol of survival, a living reminder of her own struggle to escape the pain and poverty of Williamsburg.”
Her first novel was followed by Tomorrow will be Better – 1948; Maggie Now – 1958 and Joy in the Morning – 1963. A Tree… was filmed in 1944 by 20th Century Fox directed by Elia Kazan and starring Dorothy McGuire and James Dunn as Francie’s parents. Dunn won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor while child actor Peggy Ann Gordon won the Oscar for Best Female Actress. It was produced as a play in 1951 and a new film version came out in 1974.
Reading Margaret Mitchell’s Gone with the Wind was a stolen tasting of forbidden fruit. Grown up books as we termed them were forbidden and thus my reading of the huge tome during study hour in my school hostel, brown paper covered to make it innocuous in the eyes of the all seeing, all knowing Matron. She actually asked me what I was reading, being unusually non-whispering during study hour. History book was my prompt answer which passed muster.
Gone with ….1936 was the only published novel of Mitchell but its success is measurable by its winning the National Award for Most Distinguished Novel in 1936 and the Pulitzer in1937. Born in 1900 Mitchell died young at age 48.
Never to be forgotten was Scarlett’s O’Hara sitting on the steps of Rhett Butler’s Atlanta mansion when he finally leaves her because of the love she seemed to have for the colourless Ashley Wilkes, self consoling herself with the determination to get him back. The optimist in her promises tomorrow’s another day when she goes back to Tara – her father’s cotton plantation with its black slaves.
The 1939 film starring Vivien Leigh, Clark Gable, Olivia de Havilland and Leslie Howard was directed by Victor Fleming and produced by David O’Selznik. It was nominated for 13 Oscars and won eight – best film; best actress and best supporting actress – the last creating history as Black American Hattie McDaniel won it for playing Scarlett’s nanny. She and the other black stars did not attend the premier since blacks were not allowed to sit alongside whites.
However 300,000 turned out to watch the stars as they came and went in Atlanta. The premier was at Loew’s Grand Theatre, still a theatre, and the stars stayed at the Georgia Terrace Hotel, right next to the old (for the US) block of flats where my son lives. The film was as enthralling as the book, or more so, searing itself in my memory for all time. It was redone and released several times, the last being in 1989.
The book and the film are considered perennial classics, but of late criticism has been leveled against it for romaticising slavery. Nothing seemed wrong with it to my mind.And then decades later I was in the Margaret Mitchell museum down Peachtree Street in Atlanta, Georgia, a convenient walk down from my son’s flat, with huge pictures from the film on its walls, especially Clark Gable staring at you with one eyebrow raised and flirty look. Mitchell wrote the novel in the cellar converted to an apartment, her husband not being able to afford better accommodation. Coming down with bronchial trouble they finally did move upstairs.
Margaret Mitchell had prosperous parents: father – lawyer, historian, politician and mother a suffragette, with Scottish and Irish roots. They lived down Peachtree Street and when a teenager, Margaret was rumoured to be a flirt. She graduated from Smith College, Massachusetts, and went into journalism contributing mainly to the Atlanta Journal. She gave up studies when her mother died in the flu epidemic of 1918 to keep house for her father.
In 1922 she married one of her two regular escorts – Bernien (Red) Shaw but soon divorced him due to his alcoholism and cruelty. She then married their bestman, her other favourite boyfriend – John Marsh in 1925.
‘To Kill a Mocking Bird’by Harper Lee (1926-2016) is an all-time favourite of mine and maybe better known than the previous two mentioned. Jean Louis Finch – Scout, her brother Jem and their father, lawyer Atticus Finch are indelible characters in my mind, and Atticus – Gregory Peck – is of course the all time heartthrob.
I have a further reminder. Along one of my walks is an almost derelict gloomy house with one window open and an old car in the portico. That is Boo Radley’s home to me with a mysterious, so far unseen Boo within!The widower lawyer, Atticus Finch, bringing up his two children in colour conscious Maycomb, Alabama, makes for a humane story, with him finally, but unsuccessfully defending a black youth – Tom Robinson – accused of molesting his daughter by white trash Bob Ewell. Also humane was the house confined Boo Radley attempting to befriend the two kids and finally rescuing Scout from the clutches of revenge seeing Ewell.
In 2015 Lee published her second novel Go Set a Watchman. In it 26-year old Scout visits her father in Maycomb against the backdrop of civil rights tension. He has changed and is now almost a supporter of the Klu Klux Klan. It was written by Lee in the mid 1950s and left unpublished until coaxed to do so; meeting mixed criticism. “The main characters may be the same, but Watchman is an entirely different book in both shape and tone from Mockingbird. Scout is not an impressionable girl but a young woman living in New York who discovers that her father, the great Atticus Finch, is a bigot.”
Nellie Harper Lee won the 1961 Pulitzer Prize, several honorary degrees and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2007. She assisted her close friend Truman Capote in research for his In Cold Blood and took him as the model for Dill Harris, the Finch siblings’ friend. The 1962 film of To Kill… won Oscars for Best Screen Play – Robert Mulligan and Best Actor – Gregory Peck. It was nominated to the PGA Hall of Fame.
by Dr Gotabhya Ranasinghe
Senior Consultant Cardiologist
National Hospital Sri Lanka
When we sought a meeting with Hon Dr. Ramesh Pathirana, Minister of Health, he graciously cleared his busy schedule to accommodate us. Renowned for his attentive listening and deep understanding, Minister Pathirana is dedicated to advancing the health sector. His openness and transparency exemplify the qualities of an exemplary politician and minister.
Dr. Palitha Mahipala, the current Health Secretary, demonstrates both commendable enthusiasm and unwavering support. This combination of attributes makes him a highly compatible colleague for the esteemed Minister of Health.
Our discussion centered on a project that has been in the works for the past 30 years, one that no other minister had managed to advance.
Minister Pathirana, however, recognized the project’s significance and its potential to revolutionize care for heart patients.
The project involves the construction of a state-of-the-art facility at the premises of the National Hospital Colombo. The project’s location within the premises of the National Hospital underscores its importance and relevance to the healthcare infrastructure of the nation.
This facility will include a cardiology building and a tertiary care center, equipped with the latest technology to handle and treat all types of heart-related conditions and surgeries.
Securing funding was a major milestone for this initiative. Minister Pathirana successfully obtained approval for a $40 billion loan from the Asian Development Bank. With the funding in place, the foundation stone is scheduled to be laid in September this year, and construction will begin in January 2025.
This project guarantees a consistent and uninterrupted supply of stents and related medications for heart patients. As a result, patients will have timely access to essential medical supplies during their treatment and recovery. By securing these critical resources, the project aims to enhance patient outcomes, minimize treatment delays, and maintain the highest standards of cardiac care.
Upon its fruition, this monumental building will serve as a beacon of hope and healing, symbolizing the unwavering dedication to improving patient outcomes and fostering a healthier society.We anticipate a future marked by significant progress and positive outcomes in Sri Lanka’s cardiovascular treatment landscape within the foreseeable timeframe.
by Fr. Emmanuel Fernando, OMI
Jesuit Fr. Aloysius Pieris (affectionately called Fr. Aloy) celebrated his 90th birthday on April 9, 2024 and I, as the editor of our Oblate Journal, THE MISSIONARY OBLATE had gone to press by that time. Immediately I decided to publish an article, appreciating the untiring selfless services he continues to offer for inter-Faith dialogue, the renewal of the Catholic Church, his concern for the poor and the suffering Sri Lankan masses and to me, the present writer.
It was in 1988, when I was appointed Director of the Oblate Scholastics at Ampitiya by the then Oblate Provincial Fr. Anselm Silva, that I came to know Fr. Aloy more closely. Knowing well his expertise in matters spiritual, theological, Indological and pastoral, and with the collaborative spirit of my companion-formators, our Oblate Scholastics were sent to Tulana, the Research and Encounter Centre, Kelaniya, of which he is the Founder-Director, for ‘exposure-programmes’ on matters spiritual, biblical, theological and pastoral. Some of these dimensions according to my view and that of my companion-formators, were not available at the National Seminary, Ampitiya.
Ever since that time, our Oblate formators/ accompaniers at the Oblate Scholasticate, Ampitiya , have continued to send our Oblate Scholastics to Tulana Centre for deepening their insights and convictions regarding matters needed to serve the people in today’s context. Fr. Aloy also had tried very enthusiastically with the Oblate team headed by Frs. Oswald Firth and Clement Waidyasekara to begin a Theologate, directed by the Religious Congregations in Sri Lanka, for the contextual formation/ accompaniment of their members. It should very well be a desired goal of the Leaders / Provincials of the Religious Congregations.
Besides being a formator/accompanier at the Oblate Scholasticate, I was entrusted also with the task of editing and publishing our Oblate journal, ‘The Missionary Oblate’. To maintain the quality of the journal I continue to depend on Fr. Aloy for his thought-provoking and stimulating articles on Biblical Spirituality, Biblical Theology and Ecclesiology. I am very grateful to him for his generous assistance. Of late, his writings on renewal of the Church, initiated by Pope St. John XX111 and continued by Pope Francis through the Synodal path, published in our Oblate journal, enable our readers to focus their attention also on the needed renewal in the Catholic Church in Sri Lanka. Fr. Aloy appreciated very much the Synodal path adopted by the Jesuit Pope Francis for the renewal of the Church, rooted very much on prayerful discernment. In my Religious and presbyteral life, Fr.Aloy continues to be my spiritual animator / guide and ongoing formator / acccompanier.
Fr. Aloysius Pieris, BA Hons (Lond), LPh (SHC, India), STL (PFT, Naples), PhD (SLU/VC), ThD (Tilburg), D.Ltt (KU), has been one of the eminent Asian theologians well recognized internationally and one who has lectured and held visiting chairs in many universities both in the West and in the East. Many members of Religious Congregations from Asian countries have benefited from his lectures and guidance in the East Asian Pastoral Institute (EAPI) in Manila, Philippines. He had been a Theologian consulted by the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences for many years. During his professorship at the Gregorian University in Rome, he was called to be a member of a special group of advisers on other religions consulted by Pope Paul VI.
Fr. Aloy is the author of more than 30 books and well over 500 Research Papers. Some of his books and articles have been translated and published in several countries. Among those books, one can find the following: 1) The Genesis of an Asian Theology of Liberation (An Autobiographical Excursus on the Art of Theologising in Asia, 2) An Asian Theology of Liberation, 3) Providential Timeliness of Vatican 11 (a long-overdue halt to a scandalous millennium, 4) Give Vatican 11 a chance, 5) Leadership in the Church, 6) Relishing our faith in working for justice (Themes for study and discussion), 7) A Message meant mainly, not exclusively for Jesuits (Background information necessary for helping Francis renew the Church), 8) Lent in Lanka (Reflections and Resolutions, 9) Love meets wisdom (A Christian Experience of Buddhism, 10) Fire and Water 11) God’s Reign for God’s poor, 12) Our Unhiddden Agenda (How we Jesuits work, pray and form our men). He is also the Editor of two journals, Vagdevi, Journal of Religious Reflection and Dialogue, New Series.
Fr. Aloy has a BA in Pali and Sanskrit from the University of London and a Ph.D in Buddhist Philosophy from the University of Sri Lankan, Vidyodaya Campus. On Nov. 23, 2019, he was awarded the prestigious honorary Doctorate of Literature (D.Litt) by the Chancellor of the University of Kelaniya, the Most Venerable Welamitiyawe Dharmakirthi Sri Kusala Dhamma Thera.
Fr. Aloy continues to be a promoter of Gospel values and virtues. Justice as a constitutive dimension of love and social concern for the downtrodden masses are very much noted in his life and work. He had very much appreciated the commitment of the late Fr. Joseph (Joe) Fernando, the National Director of the Social and Economic Centre (SEDEC) for the poor.
In Sri Lanka, a few religious Congregations – the Good Shepherd Sisters, the Christian Brothers, the Marist Brothers and the Oblates – have invited him to animate their members especially during their Provincial Congresses, Chapters and International Conferences. The mainline Christian Churches also have sought his advice and followed his seminars. I, for one, regret very much, that the Sri Lankan authorities of the Catholic Church –today’s Hierarchy—- have not sought Fr.
Aloy’s expertise for the renewal of the Catholic Church in Sri Lanka and thus have not benefited from the immense store of wisdom and insight that he can offer to our local Church while the Sri Lankan bishops who governed the Catholic church in the immediate aftermath of the Second Vatican Council (Edmund Fernando OMI, Anthony de Saram, Leo Nanayakkara OSB, Frank Marcus Fernando, Paul Perera,) visited him and consulted him on many matters. Among the Tamil Bishops, Bishop Rayappu Joseph was keeping close contact with him and Bishop J. Deogupillai hosted him and his team visiting him after the horrible Black July massacre of Tamils.
Sri Lanka-Singapore Free Trade Agreement
By Gomi Senadhira
senadhiragomi@gmail.com
“You might tell fairy tales, but the progress of a country cannot be achieved through such narratives. A country cannot be developed by making false promises. The country moved backward because of the electoral promises made by political parties throughout time. We have witnessed that the ultimate result of this is the country becoming bankrupt. Unfortunately, many segments of the population have not come to realize this yet.” – President Ranil Wickremesinghe, 2024 Budget speech
Any Sri Lankan would agree with the above words of President Wickremesinghe on the false promises our politicians and officials make and the fairy tales they narrate which bankrupted this country. So, to understand this, let’s look at one such fairy tale with lots of false promises; Ranil Wickremesinghe’s greatest achievement in the area of international trade and investment promotion during the Yahapalana period, Sri Lanka-Singapore Free Trade Agreement (SLSFTA).
It is appropriate and timely to do it now as Finance Minister Wickremesinghe has just presented to parliament a bill on the National Policy on Economic Transformation which includes the establishment of an Office for International Trade and the Sri Lanka Institute of Economics and International Trade.
Was SLSFTA a “Cleverly negotiated Free Trade Agreement” as stated by the (former) Minister of Development Strategies and International Trade Malik Samarawickrama during the Parliamentary Debate on the SLSFTA in July 2018, or a colossal blunder covered up with lies, false promises, and fairy tales? After SLSFTA was signed there were a number of fairy tales published on this agreement by the Ministry of Development Strategies and International, Institute of Policy Studies, and others.
However, for this article, I would like to limit my comments to the speech by Minister Samarawickrama during the Parliamentary Debate, and the two most important areas in the agreement which were covered up with lies, fairy tales, and false promises, namely: revenue loss for Sri Lanka and Investment from Singapore. On the other important area, “Waste products dumping” I do not want to comment here as I have written extensively on the issue.
1. The revenue loss
During the Parliamentary Debate in July 2018, Minister Samarawickrama stated “…. let me reiterate that this FTA with Singapore has been very cleverly negotiated by us…. The liberalisation programme under this FTA has been carefully designed to have the least impact on domestic industry and revenue collection. We have included all revenue sensitive items in the negative list of items which will not be subject to removal of tariff. Therefore, 97.8% revenue from Customs duty is protected. Our tariff liberalisation will take place over a period of 12-15 years! In fact, the revenue earned through tariffs on goods imported from Singapore last year was Rs. 35 billion.
The revenue loss for over the next 15 years due to the FTA is only Rs. 733 million– which when annualised, on average, is just Rs. 51 million. That is just 0.14% per year! So anyone who claims the Singapore FTA causes revenue loss to the Government cannot do basic arithmetic! Mr. Speaker, in conclusion, I call on my fellow members of this House – don’t mislead the public with baseless criticism that is not grounded in facts. Don’t look at petty politics and use these issues for your own political survival.”
I was surprised to read the minister’s speech because an article published in January 2018 in “The Straits Times“, based on information released by the Singaporean Negotiators stated, “…. With the FTA, tariff savings for Singapore exports are estimated to hit $10 million annually“.
As the annual tariff savings (that is the revenue loss for Sri Lanka) calculated by the Singaporean Negotiators, Singaporean $ 10 million (Sri Lankan rupees 1,200 million in 2018) was way above the rupees’ 733 million revenue loss for 15 years estimated by the Sri Lankan negotiators, it was clear to any observer that one of the parties to the agreement had not done the basic arithmetic!
Six years later, according to a report published by “The Morning” newspaper, speaking at the Committee on Public Finance (COPF) on 7th May 2024, Mr Samarawickrama’s chief trade negotiator K.J. Weerasinghehad had admitted “…. that forecasted revenue loss for the Government of Sri Lanka through the Singapore FTA is Rs. 450 million in 2023 and Rs. 1.3 billion in 2024.”
If these numbers are correct, as tariff liberalisation under the SLSFTA has just started, we will pass Rs 2 billion very soon. Then, the question is how Sri Lanka’s trade negotiators made such a colossal blunder. Didn’t they do their basic arithmetic? If they didn’t know how to do basic arithmetic they should have at least done their basic readings. For example, the headline of the article published in The Straits Times in January 2018 was “Singapore, Sri Lanka sign FTA, annual savings of $10m expected”.
Anyway, as Sri Lanka’s chief negotiator reiterated at the COPF meeting that “…. since 99% of the tariffs in Singapore have zero rates of duty, Sri Lanka has agreed on 80% tariff liberalisation over a period of 15 years while expecting Singapore investments to address the imbalance in trade,” let’s turn towards investment.
Investment from Singapore
In July 2018, speaking during the Parliamentary Debate on the FTA this is what Minister Malik Samarawickrama stated on investment from Singapore, “Already, thanks to this FTA, in just the past two-and-a-half months since the agreement came into effect we have received a proposal from Singapore for investment amounting to $ 14.8 billion in an oil refinery for export of petroleum products. In addition, we have proposals for a steel manufacturing plant for exports ($ 1 billion investment), flour milling plant ($ 50 million), sugar refinery ($ 200 million). This adds up to more than $ 16.05 billion in the pipeline on these projects alone.
And all of these projects will create thousands of more jobs for our people. In principle approval has already been granted by the BOI and the investors are awaiting the release of land the environmental approvals to commence the project.
I request the Opposition and those with vested interests to change their narrow-minded thinking and join us to develop our country. We must always look at what is best for the whole community, not just the few who may oppose. We owe it to our people to courageously take decisions that will change their lives for the better.”
According to the media report I quoted earlier, speaking at the Committee on Public Finance (COPF) Chief Negotiator Weerasinghe has admitted that Sri Lanka was not happy with overall Singapore investments that have come in the past few years in return for the trade liberalisation under the Singapore-Sri Lanka Free Trade Agreement. He has added that between 2021 and 2023 the total investment from Singapore had been around $162 million!
What happened to those projects worth $16 billion negotiated, thanks to the SLSFTA, in just the two-and-a-half months after the agreement came into effect and approved by the BOI? I do not know about the steel manufacturing plant for exports ($ 1 billion investment), flour milling plant ($ 50 million) and sugar refinery ($ 200 million).
However, story of the multibillion-dollar investment in the Petroleum Refinery unfolded in a manner that would qualify it as the best fairy tale with false promises presented by our politicians and the officials, prior to 2019 elections.
Though many Sri Lankans got to know, through the media which repeatedly highlighted a plethora of issues surrounding the project and the questionable credentials of the Singaporean investor, the construction work on the Mirrijiwela Oil Refinery along with the cement factory began on the24th of March 2019 with a bang and Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and his ministers along with the foreign and local dignitaries laid the foundation stones.
That was few months before the 2019 Presidential elections. Inaugurating the construction work Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said the projects will create thousands of job opportunities in the area and surrounding districts.
The oil refinery, which was to be built over 200 acres of land, with the capacity to refine 200,000 barrels of crude oil per day, was to generate US$7 billion of exports and create 1,500 direct and 3,000 indirect jobs. The construction of the refinery was to be completed in 44 months. Four years later, in August 2023 the Cabinet of Ministers approved the proposal presented by President Ranil Wickremesinghe to cancel the agreement with the investors of the refinery as the project has not been implemented! Can they explain to the country how much money was wasted to produce that fairy tale?
It is obvious that the President, ministers, and officials had made huge blunders and had deliberately misled the public and the parliament on the revenue loss and potential investment from SLSFTA with fairy tales and false promises.
As the president himself said, a country cannot be developed by making false promises or with fairy tales and these false promises and fairy tales had bankrupted the country. “Unfortunately, many segments of the population have not come to realize this yet”.
(The writer, a specialist and an activist on trade and development issues . )
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