Ira Philip

Ira Pearman Philip was born on 16 December 1925, in Somerset Village, Bermuda.^[2][3] Motivated by his mother to become a writer, he was 11 when he had his earliest work published in the press, an essay on patriotism printed in 1937.^[4]

Philip's journalism career stretched six decades and was primary associated with the Bermuda Recorder and ZFB Radio. Philip counted Richard Allen, Marcus Garvey and A. Philip Randolph among his influences.^[5] Philip later represented the Progressive Labour Party (PLP) as a member of the Senate, and, in 2015, received the Drum Major Awards from the PLP.^[6]

In the 1999 Queen's Birthday Honours, Philip was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for public service.^[7]

Through his mother Marie Antoinette Pearman Philip he was related to the Pearman family of Somerset, Bermuda. His wife was singer Ismay Grant Philip and he was the father of seven children.^[1] On 9 April 2018, Philip died aged 92.^[8]

• Freedom Fighters: From Monk to Mazumbo, 1988
• Heroines in the Medical Field of Bermuda, 1994
• Hakim, Son of Mazumbo, 1995
• The History of the Bermuda Industrial Union: a Definitive History of the Organised Labour Movement in Bermuda
• Champ: The One and Only Alma Hunt^[9]