W. B. Garvey is a relative of the famous pan-Africanist and Jamaican National Hero, Marcus Garvey. While going through his deceased father's papers, Garvey learned that his grandfather had been a railroad engineer who worked on the Panama Canal during its construction. That revelation sparked years of research and correspondence that led to the writing of Panama Fever: Digging Down Gold Mountain.  A classically-trained violinist, W.B. Garvey has performed as soloist with renowned symphony orchestras and as a recitalist in major U.S. concert halls. Garvey has appeared with the New York City Opera and the Black Music Repertory Ensemble and made studio recordings with major artists such as Frank Sinatra, Aretha Franklin, Tony Bennett and Wynton Marsalis as well as playing for over a hundred film scores including Martin Scorsese's Age of Innocence, Spike Lee's Malcolm X and Woody Allen's Purple Rose of Cairo.  W.B. Garvey was born in Los Angeles and is a graduate of the University of Southern California.  He has lived in Kingston, Jamaica, and London, England, and currently resides in New York City.

Panama Fever: Digging Down Gold Mountain
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Hardcover: 320 pages
Publisher: Jonkro Books; First edition (August 6, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0982229402
ISBN-13: 978-0982229408

Read an Excerpt

'A finely orchestrated work that combines meticulous research into the history of the building of the Panama canal, with stories of the courageous West Indian men and women who laboured to build it. W.B. Garvey has created a vivid and moving testament to some of history's unsung heroes and heroines.'
' Lorna Goodison, author of From Harvey River and Tamarind Season
 

A Story of Love, Ambition, and Corruption

Panama Fever brings to life the triumphs and tragedies of the men and women who left their homes and loved ones to fulfill the dream of building the Panama Canal.  A thrilling adventure, crackling with action and adventure, W. B. Garvey's historical novel tells the story of two young men seeking their destinies against the backdrop of the titanic construction of the canal as they confront the catastrophes of earthquake, disease, political corruption and murderous insurrection, while finding love in unlikely places.

Comments of W.B. Garvey on why he wrote Panama Fever:

Although the discovery that my grandfather, a man I knew little of and had never met, had been a railroad engineer in Panama was the catalyst which led me to write Panama Fever, it was Marcus Garvey's widow, Amy Jacques Garvey who planted the seeds of interest in the heroic Jamaicans who over multiple decades helped to build and maintain the historic Panama Canal.

I was a scruffy schoolboy living in Kingston when the refined Mrs. Garvey used to invite me for tea. She had recently finished Garvey and Garveyism, her loving biography of her distinguished husband and her memories of his work and their dramatic life together were like vivid crystal. She was clearly pleased by my eagerness to hear stories about my famous relative and seemed determined that I grasp both the essence and the complexities of her great man. I remember her stressing that it was the abuse of his Jamaican countrymen working in Panama that convinced Marcus Garvey to start the Black nationalist movement that would finally 'destroy the old slave mentality.' She was adamant that although it took French brains and American money to conceive the Panama Canal, it was West Indian sweat and blood that built it, something which the world at that time refused to acknowledge. Looking back, I suppose Panama Fever is in some small way my thank you to dear Amy Jacques for those inspiring afternoon teas.

Before I learned about my grandfather's work in Panama I had assumed that the Jamaicans working on the canal had all been common laborers. As I would discover, the symbiotic tie between the isthmus and Jamaica dated from the 1840's when the California Gold Rush spurred North American investors to build the Panama Railroad. Jamaica, being close by and inhabited by underemployed English speakers, became a handy source of cheap labor. By the time the French began their failed canal effort, there was a ready pool of workers to enlist, not only as diggers but also as stenographers, cooks, carpenters, mechanics and engineers.

Panama Fever narrates the adventures of two young Jamaicans who seek glory by joining the French in their valiant but vain attempt to build the canal during the 1880s. The two protagonists, Thomas Judah and Byron, find themselves caught up in a cycle of political corruption, murderous insurrection, natural disaster, and deadly disease. A story of love, ambition and corruption that explores the antagonisms of class, nationality, race, and gender, Panama Fever brings to life the experiences and tragedies of those who worked on the monumental Panama Canal project.

I originally wrote Panama Fever as a saga covering both the French and American periods, with different, although related, main characters in each period. I later decided that the story could be better told as two linked novels, each of which also stands alone as a complete story. The second novel, forthcoming soon, focuses on a Jamaican engineer and his wife during the American period of canal construction, when Jim Crow laws were introduced to the Canal Zone.

Related Links

W. B. Garvey Official Website
www.wbgarvey.com

Jonkro Books Website
...dedicated to telling the forgotten stories of the unsung men and women who labored in the shadows, often unseen. Their profoundly human experiences and lives still speak to us now and give us the courage to make our own dreams a reality.
www.jonkrobooks.com