Eustace Edward Ricardo Braithwaite (June 27, 1912 – December 12, 2016),

publishing Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the term refers to the creation and distribution of printed works, such as books, newsp ...

as E. R. Braithwaite, was a Guyanese-born British-American novelist, writer, teacher and diplomat best known for his stories of social conditions and

racial discrimination Racial discrimination is any discrimination against any individual on the basis of their skin color, race or ethnic origin.Individuals can discriminate by refusing to do business with, socialize with, or share resources with people of a certain g ...

against

black people Black is a racialized classification of people, usually a political and skin color-based category for specific populations with a mid to dark brown complexion. Not all people considered "black" have dark skin; in certain countries, often in s ...

. He was the author of the 1959 autobiographical novel ''To Sir, With Love'', which was made into a 1967 British drama film of the same title, starring

Sidney Poitier Sidney Poitier ( ; February 20, 1927 – January 6, 2022) was an American actor, film director, and diplomat. In 1964, he was the first black actor and first Bahamian to win the Academy Award for Best Actor. He received two competitive ...

and

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Early life

Braithwaite was born in

Georgetown, Guyana Georgetown is the capital (political), capital and largest city of Guyana. It is situated in Demerara-Mahaica, region 4, on the Atlantic Ocean coast, at the mouth of the Demerara River. It is nicknamed the "Garden City of the Caribbean." It is t ...

, on June 27, 1912. He had a privileged start in life: both of his parents had gone to

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and he described growing up surrounded by education, achievement and parental pride. His father was a gold and diamond miner and his mother was a homemaker. He attended Saint Ambrose Primary School, Queen's College, Guyana, and then

City College of New York The City College of the City University of New York (also known as the City College of New York, or simply City College or CCNY) is a public university within the City University of New York (CUNY) system in New York City. Founded in 1847, Cit ...

(1940). During World War II he joined the Royal Air Force as a pilot. He later described this experience in ''To Sir, With Love'' as one where he had felt no discrimination based on his skin colour nor ethnicity. He went on to attend Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge (1949), where he earned a master's degree in physics.''Modern English'', 1980, vol. 1, p. 115.

Career

After the war, despite his extensive training, Braithwaite could not find work in his field and, disillusioned, reluctantly took up a job as a school teacher in the

East End of London The East End of London, often referred to within the London area simply as the East End, is the historic core of wider East London, east of the Roman and medieval walls of the City of London and north of the River Thames. It does not have uni ...

. The book ''To Sir, With Love'' (1959) was based on his experiences there. It won an Anisfield-Wolf Book Award. ''To Sir, with Love'' was adapted into a film of the same title, starring

. Although the film was a box-office success, many critics, and Braithwaite himself, considered it too sentimental. He also objected to the main character's mixed-race romance being given lower prominence in the film version. In 2007 he said on a BBC Radio 4 programme, ''To Sir, with Love Revisited'', written and presented by

Burt Caesar Burt Caesar is a British actor, broadcaster and director for stage and television, who was born in St Kitts and migrated to England with his family as a child.

: "I detest the movie from the bottom of my heart." While he was writing his book about the school Braithwaite turned to social work. It became his job to find

foster home Foster care is a system in which a minor has been placed into a ward, group home (residential child care community, treatment center, etc.), or private home of a state-certified caregiver, referred to as a "foster parent" or with a family mem ...

s for non-white children for the London County Council. This experience resulted in ''Paid Servant: A Report About Welfare Work in London'', published in the UK in 1962. Braithwaite continued to write novels and short stories throughout his long international career as an educational consultant and lecturer for UNESCO. He was the first Permanent Representative of Guyana to the United Nations from 1967 to 1969. He was elected to the presidency of the United Nations Council for South West Africa in 1968. He later served as Guyana's Ambassador to Venezuela. In 1973 South Africa lifted its ban on Braithwaite's books and he subsequently visited the country. While there he was granted the status of "

honorary white Honorary whites is a term that was used by the apartheid regime of South Africa to grant some of rights and privileges of whites to those who would otherwise have been treated as non-whites under the Population Registration Act. This was made o ...

", which gave him significantly more freedom of movement than the indigenous black population but less than the whites, a situation he found detestable. He recorded the experiences he witnessed during the six weeks he spent in South Africa in his book ''Honorary White'' (London: The Bodley Head, 1975, ). He taught

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at New York University and in 2002 was a

writer-in-residence Artist-in-residence, or artist residencies, encompass a wide spectrum of artistic programs which involve a collaboration between artists and hosting organisations, institutions, or communities. They are programs which provide artists with space a ...

at Howard University, Washington, D.C. He associated himself with Manchester Community College (Connecticut), during the 2005–06

academic year An academic year or school year is a period of time which schools, colleges and universities use to measure a quantity of study. School holiday School holidays (also referred to as vacations, breaks, and recess) are the periods during which sch ...

as a visiting professor. He also served as the college's

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for that year and received an honorary degree. He turned 100 in 2012, and on a visit to Guyana, in his capacity as the patron of the Inter-Guiana Cultural Festival, he was given a national award, the Cacique Crown of Honour, by then-President Donald Ramotar. In 2013, Braithwaite attended the first live performance of ''To Sir, With Love''. The production was written by

Ayub Khan Din Ayub Khan Din (born 1961) is a British writer and actor. He wrote the BAFTA, BIFA and London Film Critics Circle award-winning film '' East Is East'' (1999), adapted from his 1996 Olivier-nominated play of the same name. His 2008 comedy play '' ...

for the stage as part of Royal & Derngate, Northampton's ''Made In Northampton'' season. The play was directed by Mark Babych and starred

Ansu Kabia Ansu Kabia is a British actor. He attended the Drama Centre London and was a former member of the Royal Shakespeare Company Ensemble. He is best known for his starring role in the British period detective series '' Miss Scarlet & the Duke'' as th ...

in the title role and Matthew Kelly. This was the first theater-adoption of the book.

Personal life and death

Braithwaite lived in Washington, D.C. with his partner, Genevieve Ast. Braithwaite died at the Adventist HealthCare Shady Grove Medical Center in

Rockville, Maryland Rockville is a city that serves as the county seat of Montgomery County, Maryland, and is part of the Baltimore–Washington metropolitan area. The 2020 census tabulated Rockville's population at 67,117, making it the fifth-largest community in ...

, on December 12, 2016, at the age of 104.

Selected bibliography

* ''To Sir, With Love'' (1959) * ''Paid Servant'' (1962) * ''A Kind of Homecoming'' (1962) * ''Choice of Straws'' (1965) * ''Reluctant Neighbors'' (1972) * ''Honorary White'' (1975) * ''Billingsly: The Bear With The Crinkled Ear'' (2014)

References

External links