Ole tales, sweet memories (hardcover)

My father and his unique stories from Sint Maarten

“Bringing the stories together and delving into sweet memories of my humble, loving father was an emotional journey”. Maria Plantz contributes a short biography and further background for the reader. ‘The remarkable stories of Irving Plantz’, as they are referred to by Dr. Jos de Roo were found in the archives of Radio Nederland Wereldomroep. The stories compiled by Irving Plantz were phonetically written in ‘Sin Matin’ English and recorded and broadcast to the English speaking islands of the Netherlands Antilles between 1949 and 1952. This is a unique collection of 18 stories in the oral literature tradition of Sint Maarten. Dr. Jos de Roo, who found the stories, contributes some elucidation based on the research for his thesis: ‘Praatjes voor de West’.

Maria Plantz (1955) is the eldest daughter of Irving and his wife Elly. She took up the challenge to get the stories published to contribute to Sint Maarten’s culture and history, to describe the grand Sint Maarten roots and French Quarter tribe and the life of the man who wrote the stories in a contribution titled ‘A Humble Man’. Charles Irving Plantz (1924-1987) was born on Sint Maarten into a large tribal family with deep roots in Sint Maarten society and history. As a true Caribbean he grew up on Sint Maarten, Bonaire, Aruba and Curacao. During his formative years from the age of 14 to 20 he attended Rolduc boarding school in Kerkrade, Limburg. He lived through the Second World War, an experience he did not talk about, but shared only once. After graduating in 1944 he went into hiding to avoid being sent to the German work camps. Whilst studying law at the University of Amsterdam he wrote the stories of ‘Ole Tales, Sweet Memories’ between 1949 and 1952 making use of his sweet memories and love for his ‘Island in the sun’, Sint Maarten.