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Althea Laing
- A
pioneering model of enduring grace
 The
story of Althea Laing has been well documented
over the years and her name has become synonymous
with poise and grace. What you may not know is
that beneath that polished exterior is a woman
who is profoundly honest, startlingly real and
even surprisingly funny.
Vivacious and opinionated as ever, Laing strolled
into Buzzz’s offices recently for a photo
shoot and found the time to dish about where she’s
been and what she’s been up to since leaving
the spotlight.
It wasn’t easy to get her
to open up at times, and ever so often she would
wave her arms at this writer as if to brush aside
my questions, which she perhaps felt were too
prying. Nevertheless, we did get down to speaking
after her shoot, which proved to be a real revelation.
First of all, Ms. Laing is very particular. Not
difficult, just particular and this is a trait
of a perfectionist, who she appears to be in my
humble opinion. She does not ask of you what she
won’t give of herself and that made the entire
afternoon hectic yet lots of fun. Her make-up
had to be just right because as she puts it, “I
will not be aged.”
When asked why, at this late juncture
in her life, she sought to wear braces, she stopped
what she was doing, looked me dead in the eye
as if I had asked the most utterly ridiculous
question and said, “ I can’t have my
grandchildren saying ‘Grandma what twisted
teeth you have?’”
Indeed, Althea Laing is a woman
who keeps you on your toes. The stereotypical
notion of models being airheads could never be
said of Laing. A daughter of Black River, St.
Elizabeth, she boasts that her parish was the
first to receive electricity in the island. After
being the fashion face of the 80s and early 90s,
she withdrew from the madding crowd to go back
to the country life that she loves, in order to
focus on what was important to her, which was
first and foremost family.
“Sometimes you have to pull
back and reinvent yourself. I wanted to go back
to school as I wasn’t feeling fulfilled…so
that is what I did.” Now residing in Mandeville,
she stays close to her parents while pursuing
her other goals away from the “craziness
of Kingston”.
Years ago, the crazy world of
modelling pulled her in and at the incredible
age of 29. She was discovered by Weston Haughton
and went on to make history not only for her country
but her race. Black skin, thanks to Althea, was
in.
To
read more pick up your copy at the nearest bookstore
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