Former T&T Guardian photographer Kenny Rudd, who died in Atlanta, USA, a fortnight ago, was cremated last Thursday in Florida, USA, and his son Kurtis and family returned to Trinidad on Sunday night with his ashes. Relatives and friends locally will get a chance to say farewell to Rudd today when a requiem mass is held, at 4 pm, at St Ann’s RC Church. It was in my earliest days in media, more than three decades ago, that I first encountered Rudd. What struck me most about him was the number of people he knew; important people. I thought then that if I could emulate him in some small way I’d be well on my way to success as a journalist, especially in the field of arts and culture I opted to concentrate on. It seems that Rudd knew everyone who was somebody in the arts, especially in calypso and pan. On numerous occasions, Rudd was my source of finding someone, or in getting an introduction.
Although I was not fortunate to be admitted into Rudd’s “cabal” of well-heeled limers, on the periphery I had sufficient exposure and exposure of their exploits and shenanigans. In fact, by extension, Rudd’s liming cohorts also became my own sources for information, and we developed substantial relationships. Two places where Rudd and his colleagues limed were China Clipper on Independence Square and Stand Up on St Vincent Street. But, the one I remember best was Ruby’s on Queen Street as it became one of my major hangouts. Many names, the heartbeat actually of the media back in the day, come easily to mind, including Errol Pilgrim, John Babb, Tony Forte, Keith Shepherd, Zobin Alexander, George Harvey, Maurice Brown, Kelvin Choy, Rajendra Pargass, Buxley Oxley, Mervyn Wells, Jimmy Mc Nichols, Rudy Ragbir, Sam Razack, Rudy Taylor and John Haynes. There were also Max Lai Leong and Andy Johnson.
Try as I may, the only woman I can recall who was a regular limer with these men was Rosemary Stone. It is also said that God has a quirky sense of humour. At first though, I was not too amused when I found out that Rudd’s son, Kurtis, had proposed to my first child Lisa. It took me some time to overcome the bemusement of becoming Kenny Rudd’s in law. I have so many precious memories of Rudd during these 17 years of Kurtis’ and Lisa’s marriage. Rudd will be remembered most of all for his capacity to love and embrace everyone, always ensuring that whoever was in his space was happy and thoroughly entertained.