Nation Honours Three With OJs

Chris Blackwell, Professor Kenneth Hall and Shirley Miller will be presented with the Order of Jamaica (OJ), the country’s fourth highest honour, at the national honours and awards ceremony on National Heroes Day, Monday, October 18 at King’s House.They will be awarded for their outstanding contribution to nation building.
Music mogul and Rock and Roll ‘Hall of Fame’ inductee, Chris Blackwell, will be honoured for his philanthropy and contribution to the entertainment industry.
When his label, Island Records outgrew Jamaica in the early 1960s, Blackwell established headquarters in London, England in 1962, where the business continued to grow.
Island Records has since developed into a world-renowned company, signing some of the biggest names in the music business. These include Jimmy Cliff, Toots and the Maytals, Cat Stevens, Robert Palmer, Third World, Burning Spear, Bob Marley and the Wailers, Grace Jones and U2.
Business progressed even further in the 1970s, when he began to make his mark on the film industry, with the birth of his film production company, Island Alive, producing films such as The Harder they Come, starring Jimmy Cliff, the Kiss of the Spiderwoman, which earned William Hurt a Best Actor Oscar, and The Trip to Bountiful, for which Geraldine Page won Best Actress Oscar.
Blackwell’s creation of Island Post in the 1990s saw him expanding his creative genius into the tourism sector. The establishment of the renowned Marlin Hotel in Miami’s South Beach in November 1991 has been credited for launching the renaissance of the area.
His vision of opening unique hotels and resorts has expanded to include Strawberry Hill, nestled in the Blue Mountains above Kingston; the Caves located on the cliffs of Negril and the Goldeneye Villas, the house built by author Ian Fleming, where he wrote all of the James Bond books.
Professor Kenneth Hall, Pro Vice Chancellor and Principal of the University of the West Indies, Mona since 1996, will be awarded for his significant contribution to education and regional development.He has served on numerous committees at the university, national and regional levels and has participated in policy development relating to a broad range of issues in higher education, such as governance, professional development, enrolment and programme development.
Professor Hall has also written books, articles and reviews on issues relating to history and international relations. His most recent publications include – Governance in the Age of Globalisation: Caribbean Perspectives; and Integrate or Perish – Perspectives of the Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community and Commonwealth Caribbean Countries, 1963-2002.
Meanwhile, Shirley Miller will be duly recognized for her distinguished service in the field of Law and her contribution to Legal Reform.
A Jamaica Centenary Scholar, Mrs. Miller commenced her involvement in the field of Law as the Assistant Crown Counsel in 1962. Her positions in the legal field include Crown Counsel, Assistant Attorney General and Senior Assistant Attorney General.
Her expertise in the electoral process resulted in her being a member of the Commonwealth Observer Group to the 1991 elections in Zambia and in 1992 in Guyana.Mrs. Miller previously held other local positions, including Director of Legal Reform for 20 years, and a member of the Electoral Advisory Committee from 1979 to 1993.
This is her second national honour, the first being the Order of Distinction in the rank of Commander.She is also a recipient of the United Nations Decade of Women Award.