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Although at the "ripe old age" of 80, Amaradasa Fernando could be described as "getting on in years", he remains a vibrant Evergreen in the public affairs of this country. This could be attributed mainly to an active and energetic mind which remains zealous in serving the public interest.

A fecund pen remains at the service of this perceptive mind. The older generations of newspaper readers in particular would remember Amare's exploits both as a non-working journalist and as a dynamic advocate of public causes. His interests are varied and numerous - ranging from the ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka, local and international politics, a staunch sympathy for the Trotskyite Left to the arts and literature, the state of public services, insurance and archaeological conservation, to name a few.

In all these concerns, Amare, as he is affectionately referred to among his more intimate circle of friends, is forthright and bold in his comments and views and unsettlingly trenchant if needed, in both his writing and verbal comments. It is this "no - nonsense" approach which continues to dictate his thinking on national politics. "The Government must enlist the cooperation of the PA in its efforts to resolve the conflict", he told this writer recently, "or else it is the JVP which will gain at the expense of both".

Besides, a degree of regional autonomy should be provided for in the North East for the protection of the unitary status of the country.

At the time of his reaching the grand old age of 80 on January 15th, Amare had notched 50 years in both "politics and journalism". Those familiar with his public exploits will remember his intervention in the early Seventies, along with several others, on behalf of the rights of the Bangladeshi people. It is his position that it was at their behest that the flight of Pakistani planes via Colombo to Bangladesh was stopped at the height of the 1971 Bangladesh war of national independence. Although a self-professed "foot soldier" of the LSSP, Amare's sympathies are broad enough to encompass the interests of his native culture. For instance in the J. R. Jayewardene years, he made a strong case for the conservation of the Jetawanarama Cheitya and not merely for its restoration. Here too he won the day.

A man of relatively humble beginnings, Amare started life as an employee in the Law Library of the then University College in the early forties. He claims that he was in the "Avant garde" of the "big shift" of the Law Library to the University of Peradeniya in 1951. K. D. Somadasa, Mrs. Doric de Souza, H. A. I. Goonetilleke and C. F. Fonseka, all in their eighties, are surviving, one-time functionaries of the Peradeniya University Library. "I am the youngest to enter this 80s Club", quips Amare'.

As for his work in the insurance field, in which he has achieved some distinction, it is his "evangelistic interest" in selling insurance or his policy of "helping others in distress" which has made him click.

- Lynn Ockersz

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