Marion Patrick Jones

{{Short description|Trinidadian novelist and activist (1931–2016)}}

{{Infobox writer

| name = Marion Patrick Jones

| image = Marion Patrick Jones 2016 (cropped).jpg

| image_size =

| alt =

| caption = Jones in 2016

| pseudonym = {{flatlist|

Marion Glean
Marion O'Callaghan
Marion Glean O'Callaghan}}

| birth_name = Marion Patrick Jones

| birth_date = {{birth date|1931|08|16|df=y}}

| birth_place = Woodbrook, Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago

| death_date = {{death date and age|2016|03|02|1931|08|16|df=y}}

| death_place = Port of Spain, Trinidad

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| education = St Joseph's Convent
Imperial College of Tropical Agriculture, St Augustine

| alma_mater = University of London, London School of Economics

| nationality = Trinidadian

| occupation = Novelist, librarian and community activist

| spouse = Benedict Glean
Maurice O'Callaghan

| notableworks = {{flatlist|

Pan Beat (1973)
J'Ouvert Morning (1976)}}

| years_active =

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}}

Marion Patrick Jones (16 August 1931 – 2 March 2016) was a Trinidadian novelist, whose training was in the fields of library science and social anthropology. She is also known by the names Marion Glean and Marion O'Callaghan (her married name).Barbara Fister, [https://books.google.com/books?id=eRievpkUWQkC&dq=%22marion+patrick+jones%22+%22marion+o%27callaghan%22&pg=PA226 "O'Callaghan, Marion"], Third World Women's Literatures: A Dictionary and Guide to Materials in English, Greenwood Press, 1995, p. 226. Living in Britain during the 1960s, she was also an activist within the black community. She was the author of two notable novels – Pan Beat, first published in 1973, and J'Ouvert Morning (1976) – and also wrote non-fiction.

Early life

Jones was born in Woodbrook, Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, in 1934.Harold Barratt, [https://books.google.com/books?id=NErz9DR1AxkC&dq=Marion+Patrick+Jones+%281934%29&pg=PA239 "Marion Patrick Jones"], in Daryl C. Dance (ed.), Fifty Caribbean Writers: A Bio-Bibliographical Critical Sourcebook (1986), p. 239. She graduated from St Joseph's Convent — an exclusive Roman Catholic girls' school in Port of Spain run by Irish nuns, the Sisters of Cluny — winning the Girls' Open Island Scholarship in 1950, and placing third. She attended the Imperial College of Tropical Agriculture, St Augustine, one of the first two women to be admitted.Funso Aiyejina, [https://books.google.com/books?id=i-aBAgAAQBAJ&dq=marion+o%27callaghan+trinidad+glean&pg=PA287 "Jones, Marion (Marion Glean O’Callaghan)"], in Daniel Balderston, Mike Gonzalez (eds), Encyclopedia of Twentieth-Century Latin American and Caribbean Literature 1900–2003, Routledge, 2004, p. 287.

In the 1950s Jones went to New York City, where she earned a diploma in library science, paying for her education by working in a ceramics factory painting the wares. She worked with Manny Spiro to create a trade union. She then returned home to become a chartered librarian, working as Senior Librarian at Carnegie Library, San Fernando, Trinidad.Jennifer Rahim, [https://books.google.com/books?id=nGfMAgAAQBAJ&dq=marion+o%27callaghan+trinidad+glean&pg=PA741 "Jones, Marion Patrick"], in Eugene Benson and L. W. Conolly (eds), Encyclopedia of Post-Colonial Literatures in English, Routledge (1994), 2nd edn 2005, p. 741. In the 1960s she continued her studies in Britain, graduating with a BSc degree from the University of London. She did postgraduate studies in social anthropology at the London School of Economics,Terry Coleman, [https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2014/dec/12/martin-luther-king-dr-uk-visit-1948 "From the archive, 12 December 1964: Martin Luther King stops off in the UK"], The Guardian (UK), 12 December 2014. writing a thesis on the Chinese community in Trinidad.

Activism in Britain, 1960s

A pacifist and a Quaker, known as Marion Glean during her time in Britain, she played a prominent role within the black communityJohn Rex, review of The Politics of the Powerless: A Study of the Campaign Against Racial Discrimination by Benjamin W. Heineman, American Journal of Sociology, Vol. 80, No. 5 (March 1975; pp. 1272–75), p. 1274. and "contributed to a series of statements by post-colonial activists on 'race' in the run-up to the 1964 UK general election, published by Theodore Roszak, editor of Peace News."Kalbir Shukra, [https://books.google.com/books?id=vccqIjs0GfAC&dq=%22marion+glean%22&pg=PA20 The Changing Pattern of Black Politics in Britain]. Pluto Press, 1998, p. 20.Ron Ramdin, The Making of the Black Working Class in Britain, Gower, 1987, p. 418.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=W2nLCgAAQBAJ&q=%22Ranjana+ash%22+%22peace+news%22&pg=PT210|title=London is the Place for Me: Black Britons, Citizenship and the Politics of Race|author=Kennetta Hammond Perry|publisher=Oxford University Press|date=2016|isbn=9780190493431}} As Kalbir Shukra describes in The Changing Pattern of Black Politics in Britain (1998): "After the election, Glean brought together Alan Lovell and Michael Randle, who were pacifists and former members of the Committee of 100, with other friends who had written for Peace News including an Asian woman, Ranjana Ash (an active member of the Movement for Colonial Freedom), C. L. R. James and Barry Reckord (African-Caribbean playwright and actor)."

The initial outcome was that a debating group called Multi-Racial Britain was formed; however, when Martin Luther King Jr. was on his way to Stockholm to receive the Nobel Peace Prize, Glean arranged with Bayard Rustin for King to come to London to address a meeting, which was chaired by David Pitt.Gus John, [http://www.gusjohn.com/2013/08/50-years-after-martin-luther-kings-i-have-a-dream-speech/ "50 years after Martin Luther King's 'I have a dream' Speech"], Prof. Gus John Newsletter, August 2013. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304123842/http://www.gusjohn.com/2013/08/50-years-after-martin-luther-kings-i-have-a-dream-speech/ |date=4 March 2016 }}.Peter Barberis, John McHugh and Mike Tyldesley (eds), Encyclopedia of British and Irish Political Organizations, London: Pinter, 2000. {{ISBN|1-85567-264-2}} (pp. 111–12). According to The Guardian′s report at the time: "Mrs Glean, together with Canon L. John Collins, hastily assembled about 30 Indians, Pakistanis, West Indians, and Africans...at the Hilton Hotel in London, where Dr King spoke for only a few minutes. The whole discussion lasted only an hour and a half, but at the end of it the new movement was formed and Mrs Glean appointed secretary." The movement founded at that gathering in December 1964 was the Campaign Against Racial Discrimination (CARD), which was formally launched soon afterwards.Howard Malchow, [https://books.google.com/books?id=l8xT0epJ5OoC&dq=marion+glean&pg=PA173 Special Relations: The Americanization of Britain?], Stanford University Press, 2011, p. 173.Lloyd W. Brown, [http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-3401500321.html "Jones, Marion Patrick"], Contemporary Novelists, 2001. Retrieved 25 April 2015 from Encyclopedia.com.

Writings, 1970s

She worked as Director of Social Science Programmes for UNESCO in Paris from 1965 to 1990, during which time she used her married name Marion O'Callaghan, or Marion Glean O'Callaghan, for her non-fiction writings, particularly on Africa.[http://www.unesco.org/archives/new2010/doc/aafu_clubhist_contribution_dakar_en.pdf "Assistance to liberation movements and struggle against apartheid"], p. 14, in UNESCO and Issues of Colonization and Decolonization Symposium.... Contribution of Former UNESCO Servants of the History Club Association of Former UNESCO Staff Members (AFUS), September 20, 2009. She was in charge of the anti-apartheid programme at UNESCO.Marion O'Callaghan, [http://www.newsday.co.tt/commentary/0,187966.html "Mandela the extraordinary"], Newsday, 16 December 2013.

As Marion O'Callaghan she wrote "Introductory Notes" for a symposium, Sociological Theories; Race and Colonialism, published by UNESCO in 1980.Suke Wolton (ed.), [https://books.google.com/books?id=LBe_DAAAQBAJ&dq=marion+o%27callaghan+introductory+notes+unesco+1980&pg=PA81 Marxism, Mysticism and Modern Theory], Notes, Macmillan Press, 1996, p. 81.

Her first novel, Pan Beat (1973), was about steelband and the involvement of women in its development. Her other novel, J’Ouvert Morning, was published in 1976, and examines middle-class predicaments in a society with a colonial heritage. These were published under the name Marion Patrick Jones. Lloyd W. Brown commented on her work: "In spite of the soap operatic quality of her narrative materials, Jones's novels succeed as riveting documents of a troubled society in a state of transition. ...despite Jones's melodramatic tendencies, the characters are vividly drawn and the language—especially in J'Ouvert Morning —is original and invigorating." According to Jennifer Rahim, "The author's invaluable contribution to the region's literature is her sensitive analysis of the Trinidadian urban middle class, as it strives to escape poverty and anonymity."

Writing by Jones appears in such collections as Her True-True Name: An Anthology of Women's Writing from the Caribbean (eds Pamela Mordecai and Betty Wilson, 1989), Caribbean Women Writers: Essays from the First International Conference (ed. Selwyn R. Cudjoe, 1990) and Daughters of Africa: An International Anthology of Words and Writings by Women of African Descent (ed. Margaret Busby, 1992).

As Marion O'Callaghan, she wrote a weekly commentary column in the Trinidad and Tobago Newsday newspaper.See, for example, [http://newsday.co.tt/commentary/0,147500.html "Stereotypes and black males"], Newsday, [http://www.newsday.co.tt/commentary/0,165058.html "We become Caribs"], 20 August 2012; [http://newsday.co.tt/commentary/0,213016.html "Multiculturalism or common values"], 22 June 2015.

After retiring from UNESCO in 1990, she lived in Trinidad. She died aged 84 at her home in Port of Spain on 2 March 2016.[http://newsday.co.tt/news/0,225243.html "Columnist O'Callaghan buried"], Newsday, 12 March 2016.

Family

Her father Patrick Jones (1876–1965),Caldwell Taylor, [http://www.spiceislandertalkshop.com/cgi-bin/talkrec.cgi?submit=lt&fid=f1&msg_num=834499 "Patrick Alexander Jones 'Lord Protector' - Cynosure of Early Calypso"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150518112514/http://www.spiceislandertalkshop.com/cgi-bin/talkrec.cgi?submit=lt&fid=f1&msg_num=834499 |date=18 May 2015 }}, The SpiceIslander TalkShop, of African/Chinese heritage, was a leading Trinidadian trade unionist and socio-political activist at the turn of the 20th century.Dermot Keogh, [http://www.irishtimes.com/news/big-topic-big-book-1.1124137 "Big topic, big book"], Irish Times, 23 September 2000. He was also a well known calypsonian who used the sobriquet "Cromwell, the Lord Protector" (popularly called "Chinee Patrick"),Kim Johnson, Descendants of the Dragon: The Chinese in Trinidad 1806—2006, Kingston, Jamaica: Ian Randle Publishers, 2006. {{ISBN|976-637-289-6}}.Bukka Rennie, [http://www.triniview.com/selfnews/viewnews.cgi?newsid1046510110,52469,.shtml "Jamette doh play jamette"], TriniView.com, 1 March 2003.Marion O'Callaghan, [http://newsday.co.tt/commentary/0,176998.html "When Calypso is a wuk"], Newsday, 29 April 2013. and sang what he called "the first political cariso" in 1920.John Cowley, [https://books.google.com/books?id=rHFOemkETacC&dq=patrick+jones+lord+protector&pg=PA226 Carnival, Canboulay and Calypso: Traditions in the Making], Cambridge University Press, 1996, p. 226. In addition he is notable as the first pyrotechnist in Trinidad and Tobago, manufacturing fireworks from the end of the 1920s.Marion O'Callaghan, [http://www.newsday.co.tt/commentary/print,0,189132.html "Those fireworks"], Newsday, 13 January 2014.

She was married to Benedict Glean, and to the late Maurice O'Callaghan, who came to Trinidad from Cork in Ireland to help establish the Presentation Brothers' school, Presentation College, in San Fernando at the end of the Second World War.Tim Pat Coogan, [https://books.google.com/books?id=LiJlCwAAQBAJ&dq=marion+o%27callaghan&pg=PT845 Wherever Green is Worn: The Story of the Irish Diaspora], Head of Zeus, 2015, p. 591.

Bibliography

=Fiction=

Pan Beat. Port of Spain: Columbus, 1973.
J'Ouvert Morning. Port of Spain: Columbus, 1976.

=Non-fiction=

[https://www.amazon.com/dp/9231014765 Namibia: The Effects of Apartheid on Culture and Education]. Unesco, 1977. {{ISBN|978-9231014765}}
[https://www.amazon.com/dp/9231013939 Southern Rhodesia: The effects of a conquest society on education, culture, and information]. Unesco, 1977. {{ISBN|978-9231013935}}