"The light that comes from wisdom never goes out"
Before Polish Captain Wladek Wagner died, he and his English wife Mabel had intended to write “his” and “her” versions of their story. So she drew on his large trove …
Continue reading “COMMENTARY — The Wagners of Trellis Bay, part 32”
I began these commentaries on July 20, 2023, to celebrate the construction of the original airfield on Beef Island by Wladek Wagner, a Polish sea captain, as recorded in the …
Continue reading “COMMENTARY — The Wagners of Trellis Bay, part 31”
I started this series of commentaries on July 20, 2023, after the inaugural American Airlines flight between Miami and Tortola, to celebrate the construction of the original airfield by Wladek …
Continue reading “COMMENTARY — The Wagners of Trellis Bay, part 30”
This series of commentaries is based on Mabel Wagner’s out-of-print book Lest I Forget: The Wagner Family, Pioneers of Trellis Bay, Beef Island. My first one, published July 20, 2023, …
Continue reading “COMMENTARY — The Wagners of Trellis Bay, part 29 “
In part 27 of this series, published on Nov. 28, I used Mabel Wagner’s lengthy quotes from an account of her son Michael’s 6th birthday on April 3, 1957, by …
Continue reading “COMMENTARY — The Wagners of Trellis Bay, part 28”
In part 26 of this series, published on Nov. 14, I described how the then governor of Puerto Rico gave the 1950s Beef Island airstrip project a Caterpillar bulldozer, delivered …
Continue reading “COMMENTARY — The Wagners of Trellis Bay, part 27”
In part 25 of this series, published on Oct. 31, I noted that Mabel Wagner opined in her book Lest I Forget that her husband Wladek Wagner faced a mammoth …
Continue reading “COMMENTARY — The Wagners of Trellis Bay, part 26”
In his memoirs published in 1990, Howard Reynold Penn (1903-1994), who in 1956 was a member of the Virgin Islands government, recalled then-governor Sir Kenneth Blackburne seeking funding for “H.R. …
Continue reading “COMMENTARY — The Wagners of Trellis Bay, part 25”
I started this series of commentaries on July 20, 2023, after the inaugural American Airlines flight between Miami and Beef Island and the reopening of Marina Cay, to salute the …
Continue reading “COMMENTARY — The Wagners of Trellis Bay, Part 24”
In her 2012 book Lest I Forget, former Trellis Bay resident Mabel Wagner mentions Leeward Islands Governor Sir Kenneth Blackburne visiting Tortola on July 1, 1956, before sending London his …
Continue reading “COMMENTARY — The Wagners of Trellis Bay, part 23”
On Nov. 17, 1956, several of 50-year-old Carris Penn’s brothers and stepbrothers from East End attended the opening of the clubhouse on Bellamy Cay, as recounted last Thursday in part …
Continue reading “COMMENTARY — The Wagners of Trellis Bay, part 22”
In November 1956, Polish Captain Wladek Wagner and his wife Mabel Wagner opened their clubhouse on Bellamy Cay in Trellis Bay shortly before their boatyard reopened at the end of …
Continue reading “COMMENTARY — The Wagners of Trellis Bay, part 21”
As I recounted in part 19 of this series on July 25, Polish Captain Wladek Wagner and his wife Mabel wanted to hold the grand opening of their clubhouse on …
Continue reading “COMMENTARY— The Wagners of Trellis Bay, part 20”
Polish Captain Wladek Wagner’s partnership with Herbert Lee in March 1956 — recounted in part 18 of this series on July 4 — “catapulted into reality” the dreams of Mr. …
Continue reading “COMMENTARY — The Wagners of Trellis Bay, part 19”
This commentary continues the chronicles of Polish sailor Wladek Wagner’s family at Trellis Bay, picking up from part 17 in the June 20 edition of the Beacon. Colonel Henry Howard, …
Continue reading “COMMENTARY — The Wagners of Trellis Bay, part 18”
Police sailor Wladek Wagner quickly recovered from the brutal attack on him recounted in the last commentary in this series (published on May 30). However, when he was invited to …
Continue reading “COMMENTARY — The Wagners of Trellis Bay, part 17”
The delay of the United Kingdom’s review of its relationship with its overseas territories after a snap UK general election was called for July 4 confirms the wisdom of a …
Continue reading “COMMENTARY — Writer reflects on ‘interesting times’”
In Part 15 of this series about the family of Polish captain Wladek Wagner (published on May 23), I described how three sailors from the Royal Navy ship HMS Triumph …
Continue reading “COMMENTARY — The Wagners of Trellis Bay, part 16”
In Part 14 of this series about the family of Polish captain Wladek Wagner, published on April 18, I explained that teaching material for the Wagners’ personal schoolroom at their …
Continue reading “COMMENTARY — The Wagners of Trellis Bay, part 15”
I remarked in Part 13 of this series (published on March 21) that several people Mabel Wagner mentioned in her 2007 book Lest I Forget reappear later in their lives …
Continue reading “COMMENTARY — The Wagners of Trellis Bay, Part 14”
The House of Assembly has passed the Statistics (Amendment) Act 2023 (as reported in the March 14 Beacon story “HOA votes to up penalties for withholding stats”). The act would …
In Part 12 of this series, I related that in profiling some of her heroes in a new book, environmentalist Judith Towle independently validates Mabel Wagner’s dating of her husband …
Continue reading “COMMENTARY — The Wagners of Trellis Bay, Part 13”
As a former head of the Virgin Islands Library Services Department, I feel duty-bound to respond to your Feb. 22 article, “East End library reopens after 6 months.” It grieves …
Continue reading “COMMENTARY — Ex-library chief calls for better facilities”
Reading the newly released Kindle version of an academic book published last September has dispelled my reservations about the accuracy of Mabel Wagner’s recollections of her late husband’s involvement with …
Continue reading “COMMENTARY — The Wagners of Trellis Bay, part 12”
I began this series of commentaries on the Wagner family following the reopening of Marina Cay and the inauguration of direct flights between Miami and the Terrance B. Lettsome International …
Continue reading “COMMENTARY — ‘The Wagners of Trellis Bay, part 11’”