Guyanese Achievers USA & Canada

About the Book

Guyanese Achievers, USA and Canada is the result of collaboration between Vidur Dindayal and the Guyanese diaspora, who shared with him its recommendations on whom to identify as examples of achievement. This volume chronicles Guyanese people who reflect their nation’s rich multi-ethnic heritage. These people demonstrate that Guyanese have been successful in North America for a long time. For example, Sir James Douglas became the governor of the colony of Vancouver Island and later the colony of British Columbia in the 1850s. Today, he is considered the “father of British Columbia.” For Guyanese, he is Guyana’s “first gift to Canada.” A statue of Sir James Douglas was unveiled in 2008 at his birthplace in Belmont, Mahaica. At the end of the first decade of the twenty-first century, the list of Guyanese who have been gifts to the United States and Canada is impressive. Guyanese Achievers, USA and Canada celebrates the academics, actors, doctors, educators, entrepreneurs, and others who, by demonstrating inventiveness and persistence, have been recognized as exemplars of Guyanese achievement in North America.

About the Author

Vidur Dindayal, architect and author, was born in Blairmont, a sugar plantation in British Guiana, now called Guyana. He was raised there and in Rosignol village nearby. He was educated in Guyana and at Delhi University. After managing part of the family business, he immigrated to London, England, where he qualified as an architect and member of the Royal Institute of British Architects.

Keen on community service, Vidur, a JP, has been a magistrate in London, a member of the: Social Security Appeal Tribunals, Disabled Persons Transport Advisory Committee, Interfaith and other public bodies. He is fascinated with the rich cultural heritage - (European, African, Asian, and American - a microcosm of the world) - of Guyanese. The impressive achievements of Guyanese of a small population, he celebrates in this book.