THINGS THAT MATTER: Of Cabbage And Kings

Henry S. Fraser

Of Cabbages and Kings

Professor Fraser is retired Dean of the Faculty of Medical Sciences, UWI Cave Hill, Past President of the Barbados National Trust and Chairman of the Task Force for the nomination of Historic Bridgetown and its Garrison as a World Heritage site.

"The time has come," the Walrus said,
"To talk of many things:
Of shoes--and ships--and sealing-wax--
Of cabbages--and kings--“

(From The Walrus and The Carpenter, in Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There, by Lewis Carroll, 1872)

It is one of the most beautiful compensations of life that no man can sincerely try to help another without helping himself. (Ralph Waldo Emerson)

Why do people write? Some write for money and some for pleasure. Some to simply communicate, some to persuade or help, and some to inspire.
Advocate columnist and historian Nigel Wallace, in his evocative column last Saturday, touched many cords, describing his emotions on finding a treasure trove of hand written letters from adolescence. Many people today have lost the art of writing, by texting in code: “C U sat”, and are impossibly challenged to write an acceptable letter, essay or report. The art of writing is dying and notepaper and envelopes are history for many!

The English author Kingsley Amis said: “If you can't annoy somebody, there's little point in writing,” and that certainly seems to be the goal of one or two local columnists! Writing stories or novels, of course, is a different kettle of fish to writing for a newspaper. Alfred Hitchcock surely got it right when he said: “Give them pleasure. The same pleasure they have when they wake up from a nightmare.” But the newspaper columnist has to grab the attention, in a few seconds, of the poor reader who’s drowning in a sea of newsprint and photos, is probably in a rush to get through the door for work, or distracted by the ghastly music on the radio of a teenage son, if he or she wants to persuade or inspire, challenge or even annoy!