Jamaican Minister of Education, Youth and Culture, Senator Burchell Whiteman has recently paid tribute to the late Eric Coverley, one of Jamaica’s beloved icons of culture, for his contribution to the development of the arts. Coverley, the husband of Cultural Ambassador, Louise ‘Miss Lou’ Bennett, passed away at his home in Canada on August 7, after a long battle with heart problems, he was 91 years old. A noted playwright and producer, Coverley was popularly known, and is noted as making an invaluable contribution to the development of the performing and visual arts industry in Jamaica. Both he and his wife appeared in many theatre productions and gave their patronage to several generations of young performers. At a function held at the Little Theatre in Kingston, Whiteman said that Coverley was a 'great and wonderful human being and a proud Jamaican, who has left a mark on the Jamaican cultural and entertainment scene with memories which will remain to inspire us all.' Coverley, he notes was a calligrapher, artiste, impresario, producer, communicator par excellence, and for him 'a man of supreme confidence, who knew himself and in some respects was ahead of his time.'