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Former two term Prime Minister Sir Manuel Esquivel is 81 years old now, and - while the senior statesman is now in the autumn of his years, his name is writ large in history as Belize's first post-independence Prime Minister.

In his first term, Esquivel embraced a free market model, with an emphasis on foreign direct investment and tourism. Those might seem pretty ordinary now, but at the time it was a sharp shift in strategy because, up to 1984, Belize had pursued a conservative economic agenda under what was called the mixed economy.

But, while he may have shaped Belize's economic future - Esquivel is most remembered in the public mind for retrenchment and hard times - which defined his second, 1993 - 1998 term.

Now, it all comes together in the first biography of Sir Manuel - written by his wife Kathy. 7News was at the launch at the House of Culture today:

Sir Manuel may have been hunched over in a wheelchair able only to stand for the national anthem, and his one time contemporaries may have been scarce in attendance, but they're all there in his story - as told by his wife.

In her third book, called "Still Waters", the Biography of Manuel Esquivel interspersed with her personal memoir.

Lady Kathy Esquivel - Author
"I think I got the idea that what I was writing even for the biography part was party memoir and so I do feel that as a partnership we were both very involved, not in governing but in the process."

The book traces the career of Manuel Esquivel from a Physics teacher to Belize's first post independence Prime Minister, and it reveals much according to this reviewer:

Doug Singh - Reviewer
"Well after reading this book I realize I really did not know him that well especially when I read one of Kathy's memoirs which said and I quote, 'As an incurable romantic, Manuel wanted to visit San Marino with me, I thought how sweet but Sir Manuel, an incurable romantic? Who know, perhaps the book should have been named easy river run deep."

But the book illuminates not just the personal side, but also the political decisions

Doug Singh
"We will all remember when he was called cold and heartless as a result of the retrenchment exercise that occurred just before Christmas. Well you will learn that Sir Manuel's pragmatic position was that if you were going to lose your job, wouldn't you want to know before Christmas, so you can plan ahead and don't over spend on Christmas and be broke in January as is generally is the case, I don't know if I would agree with that level of pragmatism but obviously most of the public did not either. Seriously and all jokes aside, decisions like retrenchment came with serious considerations and pressures which are explained in the book, which you much read to appreciate the complexities to let to such decisions. Sir. Manuel confessed in the book that he has no PR skills, so that meant he did not know how to do make you feel better about getting a bukut. Sir. Manuel is honest to a fault, genuine to his convictions and true to his cause but you certainly can't accuse him of being political savvy."

Neither savvy nor secretive, the author says she had nothing to hide:

Doug Singh
"And even if Sir Manuel doesn't talk very much, Mrs. Esquivel will tell it like it is as it is obvious that she was not shackled when she wrote this book.

Lady Kathy Esquivel
"I didn't feel there was anything I needed to hide in order to protect his reputation if that what you were asking."

Jules Vasquez
"So then is it that you think that Sir Manuel didn't do anything that needed to kept a secret in his career in politics."

Lady Kathy Esquivel
"Well if he did it's a secret from me too, I know of nothing. I say out-rightly that in terms of marketing himself, complete and utter failure but that's the only thing."

Jules Vasquez
"So you believe he's integrity is truly unimpeachable?"

Lady Kathy Esquivel
"I believe that."

Jules Vasquez
"Any critical reader might say, well of course you believe that, he's your husband."

Lady Kathy Esquivel
"Yes, so if they want to have something else to say, they can, I can only say that I did not hide anything that I know."

A most unusual politician - and maybe no politician at all:

Lady Kathy Esquivel
"The first title I had was an unlikely politician but then I thought that also gave a wrong impression, so I preferred this title but you're quite right and I always, I don't have to worry if he stray because all of those newspapers out there only looking to see him do something bad and none of them found it, so I can only assume there was nothing to find."

But, what the book does reveal is that like all politicians, he hated losing:

Lady Kathy Esquivel
"Well, losing is never fun, losing is never fun. I think why he found losing difficult was again because he worried about what would happen to Belize, like his major concern was the direction that Belize would take." And while Sir Manuel may never be called National Hero like Price and Goldson, we get the sense he would be fine with being called just a patriot.

The book is available for 9.99 in the Amazon Kindle store for the Kindle reader app, and for 50 dollars Belize at Price and Company.