Take Our Word for it: 10 Facts about Dr. Ralph Thompson

Dr. Ralph Thompson has worn many hats over the years - from being a businessman, to a painter to a poet. Now retired, he launched his latest and probably most meaningful work to date, a memoir on his life titled  ‘Take My Word for it’.

The Desk had the honour of being amongst the intimate gathering of friends, family and corporate well wishers as Professor Mervyn Morris read excerpts from Thompson’s book at the official launch.‘Take My Word for it', Ralph Thompson’s autobiography is described by Morris as a ‘fascinating portrait’ and we cannot wait to begin reading the book that took him over 10 years to write!

Here are 10 interesting facts to know about Dr. Thompson, before you head to Amazon to purchase his book:

1. Dr. Ralph Thompson has been a pioneer for Early Childhood Education. In fact, he advocated for ECE for over 20 years.

2. Former CEO of one of Jamaica's largest manufacturing companies -Dr. Ralph Thompson was formerly the Chief Executive Officer of Seprod Ltd. from 1992 to 1999. He was an integral part of the team that saved the company from bankruptcy.

3. Internationally renowned poet and painter- Thompson has published more than 20 poems in British, US and Caribbean journals including The Caribbean Writer and the Mississippi Review. His work is also represented in The Heinemann Book of Caribbean Poetry (1992), A World of Poetry for CXC (1994), several Observer Arts Magazine anthologies, The Oxford Book of Caribbean Verse (2005), and Writers Who Paint / Painters Who Write (2007).

4. Lawyer and soldier - Thompson earned a Doctor of Law degree in 1952 from the Fordham University in New York. After graduation he served for two years as an officer in the United States Air Force, principally in Japan, but returned to Jamaica in 1953, and married Jamaican, Doreen Lyons, in 1954, and has since lived in Kingston with his wife and children. Also during his years as an American Air Force J.A.G. officer, he went on a rescue mission to Saudi Arabia in 1952

5. He was responsible for the naming of New Kingston in 1958, formerly Knutsford Park race track.

6. Thompson washed dishes with Elizabeth Taylor in 1945! - Thompson went to LA to visit Tommy Breen who was a close family friend. Breen at the time was dating Elizabeth Taylor and after an intimate dinner together she helped him with the washing up of the dishes.

7. Ralph brought the Derek Walcott Theatre Company to Jamaica in 1971 and 1973- he was a loyal supporter of Walcott's Trinidad theater Workshop and did much to bring that theater to wider Caribbean and American notice, he writes much about his friendship with Walcott in his memoir

8. Dr. Thompson was Awarded the C.D. in 1988 and a Musgrave Medal in 2015 - The Musgrave Award is the oldest award of its kind in the Western Hemisphere and has become a quintessential part of Jamaica's history, having been in existence since 1889. Thompson, was acknowledged for outstanding merit in the field of literature and awarded a silver medal in 2015

9. In the 1970s Ralph hosted his first big exhibition of over 80 paintings at Victoria Mutual on Half Way Tree Road

10. He is a person whose significant life is a lens to look at many aspects of Jamaican life for last 90 years.