ELIZABETH MONTANO still has the diaper her son Machel wore in 1986 when he sang Too Young to Soca for the finals of the National Calypso Monarch competition in the Dimanche Gras show at the Queen’s Park Savannah in Port of Spain.
The diaper and several other outfits he wore in videos and live performances over the years are neatly tucked away in a room at her home – a telling reminder of the journey the soca superstar has taken during his phenomenal 42-year career.
Montano spoke about the room and its significance on November 30 at the Tobago launch of her book King of Soca – A biography of Machel Montano, at the Scarborough Library.
Montano also said she is willing to be a part of the MILAT initiative.
Responding to the Ministry of Education’s plan to enrol expelled students in the programme, she said she had no problem discussing the issue with Education Minister Dr Nyan Gadsby Dolly.
“I want to tell her that I will like to do a reading for them, and again, I want to stress the idea of values. I want to tell them that poverty should not be an excuse and how important education is.
“It is because of education I am where I am and because of education is where Machel is, and you don’t need any money to be educated, really, and I would like to do that.”
She said the only thing she has to pray for is health and strength.
“I am 73, so, I eh no spring chicken. I want to choose communities, and of course Tobago is part of us, so Tobago will be included.”
The book, which she started writing in Toco during the covid19 pandemic in 2020, is filled with old family photos, images of newspaper clippings and other memorabilia chronicling the various phases Machel went through to attain success as an entertainer, producer, engineer and businessman.
Addressing an audience, which included THA Deputy Chief Secretary Dr Faith BYisrael; technical adviser, Division of Tourism, Culture, Antiquities and Transportation Dr Charleston Thomas; and CEO of the Tobago Festivals Commission John Arnold, Montano was emotional as she spoke about the highs and lows of her son’s stellar career.
She regarded him as a miracle child.
[caption id="attachment_1048631" align="alignnone" width="783"] Lisa Ghany, left and Elizabath Montano at the launch of King of Soca – A biography of Machel Montano, at the Scarborough Library. - New Lens Tobago[/caption]
Saying Machel celebrated his 49th birthday on November 24, Montano recalled the harrowing ordeal she experienced when she gave birth to him in 1974, some three weeks before he was due.
“I was expecting Machel on December 16. But for some reason, three weeks before. I started to haemorrhage.”
Fearing the worst, Montano said her husband Winston took her to Community Hospital in Cocorite around 10.30 am. Her gynaecologist did not find a heartbeat and told her the baby would be stillborn.
Montano said she needed two pints of blood, one of which her husband supplied. She got the second pint about six hours later, around 5.30 pm.
She pleaded with the doctor to do out a C-secti
