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Alex Pascall OBE (right) at Cottons restaurant in Clerkenwell with his daughter Deirdre |
The day I rumbled with Ali
Journalist and campaigner Alex Pascall recalls some highlights of his diverse career over a Caribbean dinner with Mark Blunden
THERE are very few people who could claim to have crammed many centuries of life experiences into just 70 years. But Alex Pascall OBE, celebrated journalist, broadcaster, campaigner, musician and former chairman of the Notting Hill Carnival, can do just that.
At a time most people are thinking about the benefits of their free bus pass, Alex is building an educational multi-media website.
On Friday night, we shared some fine Caribbean dining at his favourite restaurant, Cottons in Exmouth Market, Clerkenwell, and were joined by his daughter, Deirdre, a professional pianist and cellist who trained at the Royal College of Music.
Originally from Grenada, Alex claims an almost scientific knowledge and passion for rum and I left with a few secrets about the sugar cane spirit.
I chose the sublime jerk pork ribs followed by coq-au-rhum – marinated chicken with cream, peppercorn and oyster mushrooms.
Alex chose the chef’s special salt fish soup and traditional curried goat, while Deirdre went for the Boston jerk pork.
We shared a portion of plantain, a good few reggae rum punches and a China breeze cocktail, then shared a dessert of chocolate and rum cake. Between mouthfuls of plantain and gulps of rum punch, the journalistic banter turned to Alex’s most memorable interviews.
First there were the numerous Bob Marley interviews, but one of his greatest coups was thanks to Deirdre, now 41, who as a five-year-old helped him scoop an interview with Muhammad Ali.
He said: “There were a lot of journalists at the Savoy, it was a real scrum. Deirdre was looking very cute and I told her to go downstairs in the hotel and find Ali and say to him her daddy wanted an interview.
“It was amazing to see as she climbed through people’s legs to get down the stairs to Ali. A bit later, Ali broke through the crowd carrying Deirdre, everyone thought she was his daughter.”
In the 80s, at a time of political and racial tension, Alex took on a number of senior MP’s into radio for interviews.
He said: “I interviewed Leon Britton when the authorities were treating Rastas badly in jail.
“They were having their hair cut off and being made to eat pork and not being given the chance to practice their faith. Before I did the live interview, I asked him about the Rastas. He would not answer the question because he said this was not agreed beforehand.”
One of his Bob Marley interviews provided what would now seem a surreal moment with his BBC bosses. He remembers: “The BBC wanted me to change my accent and this was back in the late 70s. They said people wouldn’t understand me.”
He is still heavily involved with education projects, a number of which are taught with Deirdre and include Fast Forward to Rewind, an audio CD commemorating the 200th anniversary of the emancipation of slavery.
Alex recently stepped down as Chairman of the Black Members Council of the National Union of Journalists.
He has lived in Crouch Hill since his arrival in Britain in 1959 and has lived only one year outside of Islington with his wife, Joyce.
Oh, and by all accounts he bakes a mean loaf of bread – friends come from miles around to pick up a loaf from his house. |
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