Lennox Raphael

Lennox was the second of six children of Sidney Lionel Raphael, a policeman and cocoa plantation owner, and Amy, a quiet, loving presence in his life. As a little boy, he knew he wanted to be a writer. While still a teenager, he became a published journalist for the Trinidad Guardian.

As young teens, he and a brother went to Carnival with orders to be home before dark. They stayed out late. "We are already in the biggest trouble of our lives," Lennox said. "We might as well stay out all night and celebrate!" And they did.

He turned down a college scholarship in the United Kingdom to take his dream job as a staff writer at the Gleaner in Kingston.

In Rio de Janeiro, he and his first wife, the writer Maryanne Raphael, became popular painters under the shared name LENMAR. Travels followed, including a long stay writing in Morocco.

He first came to the United States as a United Nations correspondent. In New York, he became a staff writer for the underground newspaper East Village Other, an editor of the poetry journal Umbra, and part of the Fluxus community. He made political theatre with Abbie Hoffman, Jerry Rubin, and the Yippies.

His play Che! (1969) led to the arrest of its writer, director, and cast on obscenity charges and a widely followed trial. He played tambourine with John Lennon and Yoko Ono's Plastic Ono Band at the John Sinclair Freedom Rally (1971). Through Lennon, he met the composer Carman Moore, who became a lifelong friend and collaborator. He also taught writing in New York City public schools with the Teachers & Writers Collaborative.

For the rest of his life, he peppered his sentences with "peace and love," and meant it.

Back home, he built a theatre, where several of his children joined his productions on stage and behind the scenes. He ran for office in Port of Spain East and worked closely with A. N. R. Robinson, later President of Trinidad and Tobago, to help shape a vision for the country.

One day he arrived at work just as armed militants had taken the country's leaders hostage. One of them pointed at him: "I know you, you work for the president." Lennox calmly replied, "I used to work for the president," and turned and walked out.

In 1993, he moved to Denmark and joined the Copenhagen art family, with readings, exhibitions, and work with 20/20 Visions, Copenhagen Art Club, and Artmoney. With Jesper Dalmose, he co-curated the international art festival Berlin Soup.

In his last decades, his joy of joys was home, raising his daughter Papaya with Helga, his life partner. He finished Naipaul's Country, the novel he worked on for the last 20 years of his life, and he died at home in Jægerspris with Helga and Papaya beside him.