Zee Edgell, beloved author, dies at age 80
Zelma “Zee” Edgell, notable author of acclaimed young adult text Beka Lamb, passed away on December 20. She died at her St Louis, Missouri, home after a battle with cancer.
Edgell authored four novels and five short stories set in Belize. Her first book, Beka Lamb (Heineman 1982), is beloved in Belize and throughout the Caribbean. It is one of the first books from Belize to gain international recognition, winning the Fawcett Society Book Prize in 1982.
The novel relates the story of Beka, a 14-year-old Belizean girl, and what happens when her 17-yearold best friend Toycie gets pregnant, and deals with issues of racial prejudice, social insecurity, and the rule of the conservative church in a small town.
In 2007, Edgell received an MBE from Queen Elizabeth II, for her services to literature and the community. She received an honorary doctorate in literature from the University of the West Indies at Cave Hill, Barbados in 2009.
Born in Belize City, British Honduras, in 1940, Edgell was the daughter of the late Clive Tucker and Veronica Tucker (nee Walker). She was married to the late Alvin “Al” Edgell for 52 years. Together they raised two children: journalist Holly Edgell, and physician Randall Edgell. Among Edgell’s many services to Belize was her founding of the Reporter newspaper in 1967. In addition, she served as director of the Women’s Bureau (later the Women’s Department) under the People’s United Party and the United Democratic Party in the 1980s. Later, she was a lecturer at the University College of Belize (now the University of Belize). She retired from
Kent State University, in 2009, as a full professor of English.
Over the decades, Edgell took time to visit schools around Belize to meet with young people studying her work and read to them from her books. Her last such activity took place in 2016, with a visit to EP Yorke High School High School.
She is survived by a host of relatives and loved ones in both Belize and the United States.
Preparations for a funeral are underway. A date is yet to be announced.