I hope Freddie is not gone for good

Apr 06, 2011 Features / Columnists, Stella Says

Freddie Kissoon is someone I truly respect. When I heard the news of his column being discontinued, my soul was deeply saddened. If his column does not resume, this will be the end of an era – and I am not ready to see that era end as yet.
I have said many times that I do not always agree with what Freddie has to say. More often, I do not agree with how Freddie says what he has to say. However, putting aside his tirades and cuss downs, I do not believe Freddie’s value to Guyana has yet run its full course.
Freddie has the capacity to take a recent event, tie it to an event that happened 30 years ago and convey to the reader how these two separate events relate and are significant on a national level today. How many people in Guyana can do such a thing? Not many.
I will be honest, I am not happy with Freddie right now. The story of offensive emails from Freddie to me are true, though I want to make it perfectly clear that if my publisher got his hands on emails exchanged between Freddie and I, they did not come from me. Which means Freddie must have sent them to others to read (another reason for me to be upset with him, but he hurt himself more than he hurt me).
I had no intention of ever allowing anyone at this newspaper to see that email exchange and it saddens me that others have read it. I would rather protect Freddie than to have others see what he had to say to me. I have to assume it was Freddie who took that decision out of my hands.
The purpose of my column today is to plead with Glenn Lall to resume the Freddie Kissoon column. Had I been at Kaieteur News on Monday night when all hell broke loose between the two, I would have fought for Freddie to keep his column even though I do not believe Freddie considers me a friend right now and even though I am not particularly fond of him at the moment either.
However, this is not about me or Freddie or Glenn or anyone else at Kaieteur News. There is a bigger picture to see and that bigger picture must include Freddie Kissoon. I truly believe that to lose Freddie’s insight at this crucial moment in time would prove detrimental to the good of the country.
Freddie is Guyana’s columnist. I cannot speak for others, but I know how much I have personally learned from Freddie over the years and I am not ready to stop learning from him yet. I do not like the idea of not having a Freddie Kissoon column.
I know there are some who say Freddie’s column has run its course and it is time for him to step down. I do not agree with those sentiments. Though I freely admit that he is mean-spirited (I have been on the receiving end of this), arrogant and a narcissist – as so many have intoned – I also believe he is a valuable asset to the nation.
I have often times come to Freddie’s defence when he has been arrested or assaulted and though I will offer no defence for his inexcusable behaviour toward myself, Glenn Lall, Adam Harris and his KN colleagues, I do hope Glenn will reconsider his decision to halt the Freddie Kissoon column.
Whether Freddie and I ever have a cup of coffee together is not important (and it is not looking very good at all because I am in Guyana right now and have no intention of calling him after the way he behaved towards me). What is best for this nation is most important – and having Freddie Kissoon’s opinion is what is best for the nation.
I’m hoping that when my publisher cools down a bit, he will see this, too.
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