Dame Louise Bennett-Coverly, Jamaican poet and cultural icon, passed away Wednesday at the age of 86. Better known as Miss Lou, the poet and performer is one of the best loved of all Jamaican artists. Her presence has loomed large in the popular Jamaican culture for decades, and she has been honored by both her own government and others for her work.

Born in 1919, Miss Lou began performing in dialect at the age of 19, and has never stopped. Her poetry and performances are credited with raising Jamaican patois to an art form, and elevating the language of the “common man” to poetry. Her poems capture the spirit of the Jamaican people – the rhythm and swing of the language, the spontaneity of language and expression, their philosphy and religion. A scholarship to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art took her to Coventry, England to study during the 1940s. Upon her return to Jamaica, Miss Lou taught drama to both youth and adults in various venues, and lectured widely throughout Jamaica, the U.S., Canada and the world, gaining many honors for her portrayals and her cultural impact. Those honors have included M.B.E., the Norman Manley Award for Excellence (in the field of Arts) , the Order of Jamaica (1974) the Institute of Jamaica”s Musgrave Silver and Gold Medals for distinguished eminence in the field of Arts and Culture, and in 1983 the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Letters from the University of the West Indies. In September 1988 her composition “You”re going home now”, won a nomination from the Academy of Canadian Cinema ad Television, for the best original song in the movie “Milk and Honey”.

In 1998 she received the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Letters from York University, Toronto, Canada. The Jamaica Government also appointed her Cultural Ambassador at Large for Jamaica. On Jamaica’s independence day 2001, Bennett-Coverly was appointed as a Member of the Order of Merit for her distinguished contribution to the development of the Arts and Culture.

One of the first to react publicly to the news was Jamaican Prime Minister Portia Simpson-Miller. Simpson-Miller noted that Miss Lou was one of her own cultural mentors and icons, and ended her expression of condolence with the farewell phrase popularized by Jamaica”s leading comedienne and poet – and which we echo.

Walk good, Miss Lou.