Dr Roger was a wonderful colleague and a great Guyanese

Dear Editor,
The quintessential Luncheon was seen on the morning of August 6, 1985. A young Physician ran across New Market Street from the medical block of Georgetown Hospital to reach the Operating Theatre. He had just been contacted because the President of Guyana needed expert medical help. Luncheon was determined to offer such help, although he was seen as unfriendly to the President and his party.
So different from the Roger Luncheon whom I first met many years earlier in his dashiki and Burnham button, he was featured in a booklet titled “Why Young Professionals Support the PNC”. But upon his return to Guyana, he saw a different picture to what was presented to his overseas eyes. He felt not disappointment, but betrayal. He sought a conversation with Cheddi Jagan, which he had at Freedom House, and the rest is Guyanese history. Roger Luncheon and I did a lot of work together. He and Dr. Ramsundar Doobay treated medical kidney disease – Nephrology; Guyana was lucky to have such well-trained and dedicated doctors. I was involved in the surgery of the kidney – Urology. Roger and I spent a great amount of time nurturing the newly resuscitated Guyana Medical Association.
A final anecdote. On his first overseas mission with Cheddi Jagan, he spotted a portable tape recorder that he greatly desired to purchase, only to be told by Dr. Cheddi that the party would appreciate any leftover money from the small amount they were given as travel allowance. He did it without his tape recorder. A wonderful colleague and a great Guyanese. Ave Atque Vale

Sincerely,
Deen Sharma