He spent most of his 68 years behind the lens of a camera capturing and, at times, calling shots.
The tables were forever turned yesterday and Peter Roy Byer became the main focal point, as his contemporaries tried to capture him one final time for posterity.
As a photographer and editor for the Government Information Service (GIS), where he spent four decades, and a tent manager and cultural enthusiast, Byer touched many lives and helped to chart the careers of several.
A testimony to that was the hundreds who turned up at The Bajan Cultural Village, Waterford, St Michael, which was the home of his beloved Kingdom Of The Super Gladiators, Tomorrow’s Children and several of his other projects, to pay tribute and say a final goodbye.
The virtual who’s who in local entertainment, including several whom the late perfectionist had a direct hand in grooming, politicians, journalists and those in several other professions, gathered as one to give a fitting send-off to Byer.
Grown men, who no doubt would have felt the rough edge of his tongue if he were alive, were overcome with emotion and reduced to tears as they recounted tales of the many years spent with him.
Winston Alleyne, who was Byer’s business partner and the brother he never had, did a joint tribute with Byer’s long-time friend Glyne Murray. The theory behind it was to make a tag if one or the other became too emotional. It did not work as intended. Alleyne had to pause on several occasions to collect himself as he recounted their years together and the calls he would routinely receive from Byer at some strange hours of the night.
Murray described Byer as a “much misunderstood” person who was a “legend in his own time”.
Acting chief information officer at GIS, Sharon Lynch, who worked with Byer for three decades, spoke of the exploits of the man who understood the need to bring the work of Government to the people. She too would have been on the receiving end of Byer’s sharp tongue but kind heart.
Lynch said greater efforts should be made to record the contributions of people like Byer.
Not escaping the infamous Roy Byer was his friend Reverend Luther Johnson, who delivered the address.
The rector at Christ The King Anglican Church admitted to getting a good “rinse out” from Byer, who on many an occasion, dispensed with tact, diplomacy and political correctness. But despite that, Johnson still found his friend to be a “good solid citizen” who possessed a good heart.
Noting that Byer was impatient with mediocrity, the cleric said people could learn something about it from his life.
He had some words for the singers, whom Byer spent so much time with. He said their real purpose was not simply to sing songs, but to lift up and bring sunshine.
It was not to strut around in the halls of power in the case of politicians; and that “learning is not the meaning of existence” for educators.
His main message was that in the midst of the differences, everyone was in the business of living together and that the only hope was God and each other.
A highlight of the moving service, which was a celebration in the true sense, was the rendition of Angel Voices Ever Singing by a combined choir featuring seasoned and upcoming calypsonians from across tents, backing vocalists and veterans who are no longer active in the genre.
Among the choir “boys” were Adonijah, Colin Spencer, Adrian Clarke, ten-time calypso monarch Red Plastic Bag, Sir Don, Tony Poser Grazette and Keith Destroyer Christian.
The musical matrimony was sweet and the organiser should be credited for the selection of voices and the way the song was arranged and executed.
Mighty Gabby also paid tribute with the classic Well Done. The Mosaic Steel Orchestra also played a medley.