The Editor, Sir:

I was intrigued by Jerry Dunlop's letter suggesting that Louise Bennett should not be made a national heroine because she was 'only popular'. It seems to me that Jerry may never have seen Louise in action. When I first heard Louise on ZQI in 1948, I was astonished. Here was someone talking patois (spelling Jerry - not patwa), which we were not supposed to speak in the house. Hearing this on the radio instantly legitimised patois in my opinion. She has accomplished more as a single person than any other Jamaican (to my knowledge) to help establish our identity.

One of the objections to teaching patois (the correct name should be Jamaican creole) is that there is no standardised spelling or grammar. As far as spelling is concerned, may I suggest that we follow the example of the way the Hebrew language has evolved. They use only consonants and indicate the vowels as 'points' under the individual letters. This is not rocket science. This is the way a working language was developed. I am sure that many folk in Jamaica's Jewish community would be happy to explain this further.

I am, etc.,

ANTHONY MACFARLANE M.D.

amafarlane@cogeco.ca