Winston Saunders

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Winston Vernon Saunders CMG (3 October 1941 – 25 November 2006) was a Bahamian educator, lawyer, actor, playwright and cultural director.

In his youth, Saunders attended Government High School in Nassau, Bahamas and later becoming its Head Boy. Having attended the Bahamas Teachers’ College, Saunders obtained a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Classics from the University of London in 1964. Saunders taught English at St Anne’s High School in Nassau from 1964 until 1968.

On 15 April 1968 he married (the former) Gail North.

In the fall of 1968, Saunders returned to London to obtain a Postgraduate Certificate in Education at the University of London. Saunders served as Vice-Principal of RM Bailey Senior High School from 1969 to 1970. In 1970, Saunders joined a law firm as an articled clerk. Saunders was called to the Bahamas Bar in 1974 and later became a partner in the prestigious Bahamian law firm of McKinney, Bancroft and Hughes.

An actor, playwright, director and producer, Saunders assumed the position of Chairman of the Dundas Centre for the Performing Arts from 1975 to 1998. Saunders was the author of two notable Bahamian plays – Them and You Can Lead A Horse To Water – as well as the Nehemiah Quartet series.

In 2004, Saunders was made a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG).

Saunders died in Jamaica on 25 November 2006, where, in his role as Chairman of the Bahamas’ National Commission on Cultural Development, he was assisting in discussions to plan the commemoration of the 200th anniversary of the abolition of the slave trade in the British Empire.

Saunders was survived by his wife Dr. Gail Saunders OBE, the Director-General of Heritage in the Bahamas.