New York memorial celebrates Mighty Sparrow’s extraordinary life
Family, friends and admirers of Calypso King of the World Slinger Francisco, better known as the Mighty Sparrow, celebrated the man behind the legend at a memorial service in New York yesterday. His daughter Gina Francisco reflected on her father’s final years, recalling how the man who once travelled the globe eventually relied on others to carry him, yet never complained. The service at Linden Seventh-day Adventist Church drew fellow musicians, politicians, diplomats, clerics and supporters from across the Caribbean diaspora.
Francisco said her father treated those around him warmly and deeply valued his family. She joked that, with 14 children, she could not remember all their names. One of his greatest lessons, she said, was humility. “The greatest thing that I think that he did, because it was a very humbling experience to watch my father being carried. He couldn’t walk. He had to be carried, and he was very uncomplaining.”
She added: “I’ve seen my father change over the years. He was very uncomplaining, and his world became smaller and smaller and smaller. You’re looking at a man who travelled the world, and then he’s kind of limited to where he is, and he never complained.” Francisco said sharing her father with the world sometimes frustrated her and her siblings, but she eventually came to appreciate his impact on generations of people.
“He taught me how to be at peace with whatever God gives you,” she said.