REMEMBERING PETER TOSH!

The cover of Remembering Peter Tosh which was edited by Ceil Tulloch.—

PETER Tosh was on the verge of an international breakthrough with The Wailers when Ceil Tulloch was born in June 1972.

When he was murdered in September 1987, she was living in New York City and knew little about the fiery singer/songwriter.

When she did get familiar with Tosh and his work, Tulloch found that his contribution to Jamaican culture was under-rated.

“On several occasions when I spoke with people about roots-reggae music, they were quite familiar with Bob Marley, but confessed that they knew little about Tosh,” she said.

The book is a collection of personal stories by people who knew Tosh, including his former manager Herbie Miller, guitarist Donald Kinsey and drummer Sly Dunbar, members of his Word, Sound and Power band; musicologist Dermot Hussey and British journalist Gerry Steckles.

Peter Tosh

Tulloch says initially she wanted to write a biography, but lack of funding prevented this. Her next move was to get persons who moved in Tosh’s inner circle to write about their experiences with reggae’s most controversial figure.

“Since this was an unfunded project, I thought that a compilation would be the best alternative,” she explained. “An advantage to using this format is that readers would still get a composite sketch of Tosh as a public figure and a private citizen, but would not have to read the chapters in sequential order.”

There are some interesting anecdotes from Miller who remembers Tosh the animal lover smuggling two hamsters into Jamaica. And, after getting a call in New York from legendary rock group The Grateful Dead for a meeting, Tosh declared: “You guys should be grateful to be alive.”

For Tulloch, the intimate tales showed her a different side of a man who gained notoriety for hitting out against the establishment and fighting for the legalisation of ganja.

“I was amazed to I learn about Mr Tosh’s culinary prowess, his belief in man’s ability to fly, and his sense of adventure, to name a few. These qualities were all new to me,” she said.

Ceil Tulloch grew up in the central Kingston community of Allman Town and attended Alpha Academy until third form when she migrated to the United States.

She holds degrees in education/student affairs and English literature from Michigan State University and the State University of New York, respectively.

Currently, she teaches at the University of Nizwa in the Sultanate of Oman.