Book to explore political issues

The eruption of flames and violence in the 1977 riots forever changed the social, political, legislative and economic landscape of Bermuda.

The spark that ignited the turmoil was the execution of convicted murderers Erskine ‘Buck’ Burrows and Larry Tacklyn.

But a total of 10 lives were lost in the events leading up to the unrest, and in the ensuing violence.

In his book When the Rock Burned, Jonathan D. Smith aims to set the riots into a wider context. The former police commissioner’s book is a graphic account of the events, socio-economic forces and politics of the time.

Mr Smith was a teenager in 1977 and the riots are vividly etched in his memory.

‘There was a lot of tension at the time,” he said.

“One of the most dramatic memories I have is looking across the harbour from our home in Paget and seeing the nighttime glow of orange from buildings on fire in the city of Hamilton.

“But the book is not a personal account.”

Mr Smith said: “When you look back on 1977, it was a landmark period of change which Bermuda was about to go through. 

“My book will explain why; it will set the trail, highlighting the economic, social and legislative reform that came out of that period.

“One shouldn’t just look at the riots as a group of rioters burning buildings. It was really a statement on how Bermuda was at that time in terms of social, economic and political inequality, and matters of justice.

“There were many vibrant political issues in our society, but anyone in Bermuda during that time would probably agree that the reforms we were going through were moving painfully slowly.

“So, this was all definitely accelerated by the riots and the Pitt Commission.”

When the Rock Burned focuses on a time frame of June 1977 to early 1978, when the Pitt Commission Report into the riots was published.

“There’s such a lot of action in that narrow window, which makes it a very dramatic part of our history.

“But it all started with the shooting of the Police Commissioner (George Duckett) in 1972, and then the Governor (Sir Richard Sharples) and his aide-de-camp (Captain Hugh Sayers) in 1973.

“Victor Rego and Mark Doe were then killed in the Shopping Centre shootings a month later (April 1973).

“Burrows and Tacklyn were executed (on December 1) for the murders, but during the riots three more people were killed in an arson attack.

“Gladwin Ingham and two American tourists, Dorothy Joyce and George Gandy, died in a fire at the Southampton Princess which was deliberately set.

“So there’s really a story to be told about them all. It  started in 1972 but the chapter wasn’t really written until 1977, when all of those 10 lives became interconnected.”

Mr Smith said: “Although the riots were a tragic period in our history, a great deal of good came out of them and this will be detailed in my final chapter — the social, economic, legislative and political reform.

“A great deal of the laws you see today came out of the post-1977 period, so it was very significant in driving reform in Bermuda.”

When the Rock Burned is the second book by Mr Smith. He published In the Hour of Victory — The Story of Major Anthony F. ‘Toby’ Smith in 2011.

The book has since been made into an award-winning documentary, by Bermudian filmmaker Lucinda Spurling. n