Thirty-four years ago, on December 16, 1967, George W Bush, now President of the United States of America, walked Glynis Sutherland of St Vincent down the aisle of the Episcopal Chapel at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, and gave her hand in marriage to his Yale classmate, Dr Roy Austin, the new American Ambassador to the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago.
On meeting the charming, six foot plus tall Ambassador last week, my first words were "you do not have an American accent." With a quiet smile he explained "I did not go to the United States until I was 25 so my accent would hardly have changed." Born in Kingstown, St Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) in 1939, Austin graduated from the St Vincent Grammar School with the Higher School Certificate and worked for the government as a Customs Officer before returning to his alma mater, the St Vincent Grammar School, to teach.
During this time, Austin was involved "in just about everything when I was young." In 1962, he was captain of the national soccer team which took part in the Windward Islands Tournament in Grenada; was selected in 1964 for trials as a fast bowler on the national cricket squad but after one trial game decided against it "as I was sure that the headmaster would not have given me time off to go to Dominica for the Windward Islands Cork Cup competition."
With pride, he remembers "in 1963, I actually played football against a Maple Team which came up to St Vincent. A strong team which at that time had about six members on your National Team, Sedley Joseph was the captain." Swimming for the Ambassador as a youngster in St Vincent "was a natural as I always lived in the Bay Street area so I would walk across the street every morning for a swim, it was my bath to go to school, then get the salt off under the standpipe."
Carnival is one of the loves of Ambassador Austin's life and he hopes to see some of the shows in the upcoming season, playing mas is not on the cards as two bad knees are his football legacy. "If I had a choice of Carnival or Christmas, it would be Carnival." Of special interest to him, as a former bandleader is to familiarise himself with the modern techniques of constructing costumes. "When I was doing this we were still bending wire with pliers. There were times when we lost money as we charged a fee to hire a steelband to accompany us to the track and around the town. We did not get paid for assisting people with costumes but did it because we enjoyed Carnival."
In 1964, Austin moved to the United States and entered Yale University where he became a classmate of the future president of the United States: "We lived in the same residential College, Davenport College." Switching majors from Biology/Chemistry, Austin graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology. "I was sure that I wanted to teach in St Vincent, but having switched asked myself what am I going to do in St Vincent in that field, maybe with a major in economics they may have had some use for me, but in sociology they have nothing for me to do. I had absolutely no thought beyond a Bachelor's degree. But many Yale students were talking about graduate school and hearing these people, I said to myself I could go further in education." And moved on to the University of Washington and obtained a Master's degree in 1970 and a Ph.D in 1973, both in sociology.
Dr Austin has been a faculty member of the Pennsylvania State University for nearly thirty years where he held the position of Associate Professor of Sociology, Justice and African American Studies. From 1994 to 1998, he served as Director of the Crime, Law and Justice Programme at Penn State; and in July of this year became Director of the Africana Research Center. Among his publications are some on the Caribbean, including Trinidad ad Tobago.
The call that was to change the Professor's career came from President Bush's office in February asking whether he was interested in the position. Understandable, since Dr Austin had maintained a relationship with Bush through the years. "You have to know someone to get these political appointments" says the softspoken man, a father of two grown sons, "but I was certainly happy to get back to the Caribbean. My response was an immediate yes, I did not have to take time to make up my mind as after thirty years of teaching you think you can do something else with your life." And on August 31, 2001, President Bush made the announcement that he intended to nominate Dr Roy Austin as Ambassador to this country. After two weeks at an Ambassadorial Seminar and more briefings and school in Washington D.C., finally on October 19, 2001, Ambassador Austin was sworn in as United States Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago.
The Ambassador had been to Trinidad twice before, a case of so near yet so far. First on a joy ride as a Customs Officer at the St Vincent Airport "Liat was coming down with an empty plane and the duty officer said let's go down to Trinidad, it was a turn around." And again for three days in 1975 to do some research at the University of the West Indies. "And although in many ways it is new because I did not know what the streets of Port of Spain looked like, in terms of people interaction it is like I have known these people from the time I am small. I have lots of friends from Trinidad who came to Penn State to study while I was there. And I was the Advisor to the Caribbean students for about twenty years. I feel like I am at home. You speak differently but there is nothing that tells me I am in a place different to the place in which I grew up."
And while the Embassy beefs up security in light of the many recent attacks on the United States, Ambassador Austin does not feel threatened, immediately, but sensibly, does not put it out of his mind. "No one knew what happened in New York was going to happen, no one anticipated the two bombings in Africa. We cannot take these things for granted." He remembers, like every other American, exactly where he was on September 11: "Attending my first Ambassadorial seminar in the State Department."
Ambassador Austin hopes to keep relations between the two countries, which are currently very good, that way, and because of his Caribbean background can improve on these relationships. And on a subject which is dear to my heart, the touchy one of the long lines of Trinis standing outside the Embassy in rain or sun from very early in the mornings trying to secure visas, the Ambassador explained that when in his first few days he looked out and saw the lines "I thought it was a demonstration of some kind but discovered that people were lining up for visas." He is sympathetic but says "the problem is there is not enough room in the building for even those working there to have a comfortable office which makes it difficult to find space for those early morning applicants to sit inside."
The United States is interested in investment and trade with the Caribbean, and certainly with Trinidad. "Should there be any openings I think we will both pursue them. That is one of the goals of the Mission to engage in trade with the host country, that of course means trade which is mutually beneficial."
The Amassador and his wife have settled somewhat at the Flagstaff Hill residence, although he remarked with a chuckle "I am still looking for a set of ties."
And just as Ambassador Austin speaks of his longtime friend President George Bush as "a very nice person, very friendly, very outoing and a genuine person" , if first impressions are anything to go by, my sentiments about the Ambassador are exactly the same.