P. Anthony White, an esteemed Bahamian journalist, began his career nearly 60 years ago. Over the decades, “the White boy” as he refers to himself, has become a strong and well-respected voice in Bahamian media.
His colourful charming stories often depict Bahamian life through the eras and reveal the paths of how we have come to be where we are today. With his distinctive literary poise he unabashedly holds up a mirror of society.
It has often occurred to me that through his eloquent prose he is challenging us to remember our past so that we may learn from it. Learn… and acknowledge, recognize and grow. He does this by telling stories of days now gone, people now passed – people of prominence as well those from ’round da corner.
P. Anthony White does with words what we aim to do with the Bahamian Project… to foster cultural awareness and create a record of the people who make The Bahamas so unique. He is a godfather of Bahamian journalism, marketing and communications.
Only a few months after he attended the opening of the Bahamian Collection exhibition at the National Art Gallery of The Bahamas, Mr White died in hospital at the age of 73 on November 27, 2013.
Documentary photo by Lisa Wells
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3 responses to “P. Anthony White”
🙂 very proud of this White Boy
P. Anthony White taught us how to observe our own culture with a curious distemper leavened by the constantly permutating discovery of human mischief. So many people sought out the Punch for the salacious news stories. I waited and had them shipped to me to read P. Anthony's column, to discover the roots of culture, written with humour and charm. From those stories I learned a folk history of our culture, bloodlines broken and confirmed, kindnesses forgotten and revealed; grace restored in the hand of the nation's finest storyteller.
His literary voice was like old Nassau.
Once, at East Villa, he came to hear me speak. He was kind enough to whisper a kind word to me about what he thought about my own ideas. This was magical. Increasingly – although I feel at home anywhere in the world – there is not feeling of home greater than the writing of P. Anthony White, or the music of Ronnie Butler and Joseph Spence.
For me, his stories are the memory of and for a nation, told by a native son.
Professor Gilbert NMO Morris
Excellent work on the late P. Anthony White