I have just been listening to the radio obituary about the life of Cec Thompson, one of the UK's first black rugby league players to represent the country at international level. He overcame a desperate childhood, his Trinidadian father died before he was born and he spent many years in orphanages, to become an inspirational teacher and successful businessman.
It was one of his friends saying that Cec did not mind being called 'darkie' that drew my attention and made me actively listen to the radio programme. Later on in the obit you will hear Cec in his own words describe how horrible it was to be racially abused by other players and that he did go home and cry.
He could barely read and write when he was a star player, and it was struggling to sign his name for autographs that made him strive to learn. Later he took his O' and A'levels amongst 14 year olds, and then did an economics degree at Leeds University, going on to become head of economics at Chesterfield grammar school. To sustain himself while playing rugby league he had set up a window cleaning business, which went on to become one of the biggest cleaning businesses in the North West of England, employing 700 people.
While the obit towards the end, tries to suggest that he was not easy to get on with - and really, why should he be? it is clear that he inspired all kinds of people to better themselves through education. A life well lived. Rest in peace Cec Thompson.
I'd never heard of him before today, but his book Born on The Wrong Side was originally published in 1995.
You can listen again to the radio programme, his life is reviewed first in the programme: BBC Radio 4's The Last Word
Obituaries for Cec Thompson The Guardian BBC
0 comments:
Post a Comment