The Authorized Biography Of Price: The Process Behind It

There have been many books about National Hero and Founding Father George Price, but this week Godfrey Smith will release the first authorized biography of the great man.

An authorized biography means Price approved of and participated in the writing of the book, which is called, "George Price, A Life Revealed."

Now, if you know anything about George Price or his legend, you'll known that he is a private and plain man. But when Godfrey Smith encountered him in February of 2009, at the age of 90, the elder statesman could hardly be bothered about the mythology surrounding him; he was ready to speak plainly, candidly and extensively about his remarkable life.

Tonight, in the first of a three part look at this important work - author Godfrey Smith tells us what the process was like, meeting with Price several times a week over the course of a year to put together the broad outline of his life:...

Godfrey Smith, author
"Price was for the better part of his life extremely private and secretive person. I believe that my timing was right. By the time I got around to do this biography Mr. price had ceased being a political person if you will. He was 90 years old, was retired and though he was inform of what happen politically, it's not like he had any running interest in it. So I had no direct access to him but I eventually approach Mr. Luke Espat who was close to Mr. Price for a very long time and Luke arranged the interview. I was given a time and a date to see him. I went and Mr. Price welcomed me and was actually very excited and eager to get the process going. I suspect, I got the feeling that he really cherishes the companionship. I got the feeling that he enjoyed discussing the story telling aspect of it. I think he took great joy in telling the story."

Jules Vasquez
"He had great disregard or not great regard it seems for the mythology that had been cultivated around him as an icon. He didn't have much regard for that."

Godfrey Smith, author
"That is absolutely true. The thing is I am not sure to what extent Price really did have a regard for the mythology. The thing is because he was always such an intensely private person, few people really got to engage him in a relax mode but I think those who did he readily confided things such as for example that he was a poor student, he barely scrape - he was a 70s average student. He was at the bottom of his class and issues relating to his relationship with Guatemala officials, he readily without a moment's hesitation said 'look this is what I was doing I got money from the Guatemalans, it was used for the defense of Goldson and Richardson. It was used to get propaganda material to fight against the British. It was a case of the enemy of my enemies, my friend kind of thing. So yes the point is that he was completely open. There was not a question that I put to him which he failed to give an answer to."

Jules Vasquez
"So importantly he did have an opportunity to go over - it being an authorized biography, he did had an opportunity to review what you had compiled."

Godfrey Smith, author
"Price did, he reviewed 18 chapters and even though as I am in the materials, i have the materials, it's a bankers box full of files with the materials relating to each chapter and up to chapter can be found, the printed chapters with is notations, corrections, suggestions etc. After chapter 18, that coincided with an incident where he had fallen and had to be hospitalized. I notice that I take the chapter for him but it would remain and even though he said he would read it I found that it wasn't being done, so effectively I think he critically commented on 18 chapters, but even so the comments he made were never with a view to removing or excising anything. It was more questions of accuracy and how he remembered things. But there was no point on any of his scribbling on those chapters where he says 'please take this out or please that out' not at all which surprise me I must say."

Jules Vasquez
"Why do you think that he felt it OK to proceed as you will, be faithful only to truth?"

Godfrey Smith, author
"I think quite simply he had reached that age, that stage of his life. I think as I put it his interest was no longer anchored on the plateau of politics. he spirit has risen above that and he was just in a relax mode and calling things as he saw it, stating his opinions of people and things and just being frank. I think he had reached and age of his life where the deep privacy didn't matter. The things that had laid hidden away for decades didn't matter. He simply was prepared to tell the story."

Tomorrow, we'll talk to Smith about the early events in the public life of George Price that gave birth to the PUP and the Nationalist movement.

The book will be officially launched on Friday of this week.

Channel 7