Column: Gene Steede Celebrates 84th Birthday

[Written by Glenn Fubler]

Gene Steede – Mr Hospitality – is celebrating his 84th birthday on January 6th. He considers himself blessed, having experienced significant health challenges that had hospitalized him for several months. While Gene emerges, still on the mend, he is now better able to engage in the joys of life.

Tapping into the tradition of Christmas to foster links in the village, I took Gene out to make some rounds. The first stop that Saturday afternoon was Hamilton Princess, that century-old iconic venue. The island’s hotels, up until 1959, barred Blacks from entering their front doors, notwithstanding constituting most staff and entertainers.

In the 60s, Gene and his young wife Pinky, along with Don Gibson’s Holiday Island Revue, joined by other up-and-coming entertainers, helped transform that legacy of lemons, leveraging the spirit of 59, creating lemonade. It was that renaissance that fostered the golden era of Bermuda hospitality.

While the 40-something Princess doorman easily recognized Gene, most other current staff were clueless. The young Bermudian lobby hostess had “heard the name before” and appreciated the briefing on Gene’s legacy – so much so that during our hour-long visit, various staff went out of their way, recognizing “Mr. Steede”

Gene reminded me that he grew up in North Village in a family with limited resources, recalling being unable to maintain his school uniforms. However, he enjoyed musical abundance from his parents, siblings, and community. The neighbouring Band Room served both as a school and a practice area for the North Village Band, all feeding his artistic passion.

From his early career, Gene frequented the Musicians Club, where entertainers gathered informally to jam outside of their busy schedules. This cross-generational opportunity leveraged the artistry of all concerned, guided by mentors such as Lance Hayward, Hubert Smith, and others.

Gene shared that Princess had been transformed over his long career. I recalled witnessing his fantastic performance at their nightclub in the 1980s when our mutual friend – the late Ron Lightbourne – was his pianist. Gene would have the packed audience – mostly tourists – in the palm of his hand, and, after a standing ovation as his group gave way to the international main act, experience that room’s energy fade; the thrill was gone.

Next, we picked up Chris Lambert, a noted pianist who had backed the icon during weekend stints at Holiday Inn. My wife Deonn had warmed up some split-pea soup, which we stopped by to enjoy, before visiting Summer Haven to see Willard ‘Foxy’ Fox, a longtime champion of the rights of the disabled.

Foxy was a close friend of the late Margaret Carter, a mutual friend of Gene and Ron who was integral in campaigning for years to establish Summer Haven as a suitable home for the disabled. Gene often served as a volunteer driver for the mini-bus, transporting the disabled across the island. That same spirit of solidarity shared by these brothers and sisters for the local village extended to the global village.

Gene served as host for a telethon in 1983 on ZFB TV during which U.S. Congressperson Shirley Chisholm was a special guest and $60,000 was raised for the people of South Africa by the Bermuda Anti-Apartheid Movement. That event was inspired by Foxy who, with the planning by Margaret, travelled through pouring rain on his motorised wheelchair from Hamilton to St. George on a stormy Sunday to raise solidarity funds.

After a farewell song for Foxy, we travelled to the home of Dennis Fox for a bit of carol singing with that talented pianist’s family.

Our last stop on that Saturday was the family home of Stan Gilbert, who had served as Gene’s bass player for several decades. Gene received a report on each stop of nostalgic reminiscences, stirred up by recent repeats of the annual Jean & Gene Christmas Show, which he did with the late Jean Howes.

On the next evening – with his daughter’s blessing – I picked up Gene again and we attended Chewstick’s open mic at Blue Water Anglers’ Club, which featured the iconic Joy Barnum and included some mostly younger artists. Host Gavin Smith provided the audience with some of Gene’s contribution and in appreciation, Mr Hospitality provided an offering.

Somewhat hoarse from the previous day’s caroling, Gene declined a full song, but did do some call and response, leading the audience with the iconic Dayyy…Oooh! He went on with a couple of jokes and a classic poem – lasting almost five minutes – about a European princess meeting a Black prince, demonstrating the depth of his artistry.

Gene was showing the younger audience that even while experiencing grave challenges – normal for his age – it was still possible to generously share. This in the spirit of the best of Bermuda’s culture, exemplifying a love for neighbours no matter from where they come, as we love ourselves – the essence of hospitality.

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Category: All, Entertainment, Music