He calls himself a historian who dabbles in history but Lawrence Vernon has done more than dabble with his latest book. It's called "A narrative of Political Parties in Belize" and it tracks the birth, rise - and some cases, the demise of more than 25 political parties in Belize's post-nationalist history.
The book was launched today at the Leo Bradley Library in Belize City where the 81 year old Vernon told us that the most important consideration was to stay true to the historical record - which he extracted from the daily newspapers of that era:
Jules Vasquez, reporter
"When you read the book you see that it is written with the fidelity of the librarian, the record keeper."
Lawrence Vernon, Author
"As you mentioned I am a career librarian and as such I feel that I should collect information, document it and disseminate it. The newspapers were my main source and as you said it was tedious to turn the pages of the Billboard and the Clarion and garner information from them. The book should be read by everybody who wants to know more about the political development of Belize and I purposely made it reader friendly so that the average person on the street could gather information from it. I included end notes and foot notes so that more explanation can be given about what is in the text."
Jules Vasquez, reporter
"But if you could have been active in any era, which is the most exciting?"
Lawrence Vernon, Author
"I wasn't active, but I observed. I was born on 1937 and the nationalist movement started in the 1950s and so I was there to see the developments and hear the speeches and agitations that were going on at the time. So I have lived to see what is happening now and to compare it. The two mass parties, the philosophies are the same, but I would like to see some more unity for the development of the country. The party should become more united and have more dialogue."
The book is available widely and sells for thirty dollars. His next - almost completed book - will be a biography of Phillip Goldson.
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