King's Jamaican Connection

Style Observer - FLASHBACK

Sunday, August 21, 2011

Ocho Rios-based developer and hotelier Ernest Smatt is no stranger to hosting celebs. Brash, bold and quite the smooth talker, it's hardly surprising that Smatt's inviting personality endeared him to Hollywood A-listers and political figures, such as the late civil rights icon Martin Luther King Jr. Smatt was recently reminded of his decades-old friendship with King Jr in mid-July of this year when he was sent a photograph taken circa mid-1960s at the former Arawak Hotel in Ocho Rios. The black-and-white image shot by Lloyd Tenn shows a handsome, naturally much-younger Smatt candidly captured in conversation with the vacationing activist, and then Arawak Hotel manager Don Bardowell. Naturally Smatt was pleasantly surprised when he received the photo, and happily took an impromptu trip down memory lane with SO. "Martin was a good friend," Smatt shared. "We met because he loved to go deep-sea fishing and someone told him I had a boat. From that point, our friendship took root."

The Lloyd Tenn photograph of civil rights icon Martin Luther King Jr (right) with Ernest Smatt (centre) and Don Bardowell, former Arawak Hotel manager, taken in Ocho Rios in the 1960s.

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"He was a cool guy," Smatt said of the legendary African American, whose I Have A Dream speech is still frequently quoted 43 years after his assassination. "We got along well together." Smatt revealed that King Jr fell in love with Jamaica and would visit regularly. "He loved the climate and he came here because he made a friend," the hotelier reflected, adding that King Jr was a personal houseguest on several occasions. "He was fiercely intelligent and well spoken ... people like Martin and other important people are cautious about who they allow to get close to them, and I think he found me trustworthy and genuine so he felt comfortable with me," he explained. Smatt paused with a sense of remorse made almost anew as he remembered that King Jr dined with him at his home in Mammee Bay, St Ann, a mere 10 days before he was killed on the balcony of his room at the Lorraine Motel in Tennessee. "He was truly a great man and I'm honoured to have shared his company and to have called him a friend," he noted.

Smatt's celeb association was by no means only limited to King Jr. SO also discovered that Smatt, who once called Beverly Hills, California, home for a stretch, entertained the late screen legend Elizabeth Taylor and hubby #4 Eddie Fisher at his home whenever they visited The Rock back in the 1960s. "They were great fun," he said of the couple. "When they would come, they enjoyed going to the Cove Theatre to watch cowboy movies. I would sneak them in and we'd sit on the balcony. They loved the reaction of Jamaicans as they watched the films."

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Update

Dear friends, after reading this article about my cousin Ernie Smatt ,and Martin Luther King, it brings back sweet vivid memories about living in Jamaica during these times .I felt the love and oness of my fellow Jamaicans. Living here in America, I cannot help but think what it would be if we all had that same spirit of being one . I believe it can be possible through the precious blood of Jesus . I beleive also that only Jesus can bring people together.I further believe that this can only be accomplished by inviting Jesus into our hearts and living daily in Christlikness! Here is a prayer that I prayed many years ago ,"Dear Lord Jesus, please come into my heart and forgive my sin!' I believe that the onesness is not through money, fame , fortune, education, religion ,or politics but through the shed blood of Jesus!!

I believe that America needs Jesus, and I also believe that America needs a revival. I believe that we will either fall, or rise as a Nation!!!John 3:16