Jamaica Artist's Book
Preserves Unique Perspectives
Of Sept. 11

By STEPHEN McGuire

Following the rally cry of  “we will never forget,” a Southeast Queens artist has come up with a unique idea for an interactive book that aims to capture the grim reality of the attacks through art and triest to preserve personal histories of the aftermath for future generations.

William West, a self-described  “poetical, graphical” artist from Jamaica is the author of The Landscape Of Ground Zero,” a collection of words and artwork that captures the days and weeks at Ground Zero after Sept. 11 and gives readers a chance to write their reactions.

“After seeing many photographs of Ground Zero, particularly in regards to the lives that were lost and the heroes that evolved from that tragic event, I felt the need to present the Landscape of Ground Zero,” West said.

“Because this an ever evolving story with so many points of view, I felt that you should become part of this written story. Therefore I have provided space for you to write how you feel directly under each picture.”

What makes the book so unique?

The surreal art, poetry and the way it is presented, according to West.

West’s original artwork, as shown above on the cover of his book, captures the surreal moments at Ground Zero in vivid detail.

“The poetry captures the mood feelings and the facts about what happened that day. The lines underneath are for you, as owner of the book, (to) write your comments, share your feelings and thoughts and pass on your thoughts.”

 The pages of The Landscape At Ground Zero, are filled with West’s artwork depicting the days after the terrorist attacks.

His one-of-a-kind artwork and the way it was created is a “trade secret,” he explained.

West said the idea for the book about the attacks came three weeks after Sept. 11, when he saw a television news segment that explained there were few words in history textbooks about the first attack on the World Trade Center in 1993.

“I felt I should do something,” West said. “ I said, ‘this has to go down in writing.’ That was the impetus.”

That’s why his book includes lines for comments, he said.

“What I want to happen when they read – I want to know how they felt. If it helped them convey thoughts and feelings.”

Mentioning Sept. 11 makes West visibly emotional.

The tears welled up in his eyes as he recounted the day.

“I was at home,” West said.

He explained the fear he felt knowing that his wife Princess, who works for the New York Stock Exchange, and sons Christopher, a 21-year-old computer networker, and William Jr. a 23-year-old emergency medical technician, might have been near the attack site.

Each time the phone rang the tension grew.

“My son Chris called alerting me to what happened” and to let me know he was all right, West said. “Then some people from my church called.”

“I was nervous,” he explained.

West said he breathed a sigh of relief when his wife called him that evening to let him know she was all right.

Later he was informed that William Jr. was not stationed near Ground Zero that day.

His family was safe, but he remained haunted.

“(I am) dismayed at the lives that were lost on Sept. 11,” he said.

That’s why he hopes that his book and art collection, “will serve as a historic reminder of what happened and why we must as a country continue to pray and guard our liberty.”

West is a self-taught artist who tuned into his talents only two years ago.

Before answering the call as “poetical, graphical artist,” West worked as a recreational/ art therapist at the Jamaica Center For Arts and Learning in Jamaica.

West uses a “trade secret” to create images in his book, like this one of a firetruck parked near Ground Zero.

“I wrote my first poem after seeing a program on a news station that talked about men and why they should apologize,” West said.

“(That’s) one of the things that you should normally do,” he said. “I decided to write it in a poem.”

According to West the poem remained incomplete for the next four months – that is until he participated in a Black History month program sponsored by the New York City Department of Mental Health.

“I read the poem aloud and auditioned.”

The judges told him he could be part of the program.

West said that after he read his piece he received applause and people asked him for copies of the poem.

 “After that the Lord began to illuminate my life,” he said.

West has gone from humble beginnings to reciting and exhibiting at places like Bethel Gospel Tabernacle Church in Jamaica, Langston Hughes Cultural Center and Library in Corona, Cooper Union, The Greater Allen Cathedral in Jamaica, the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, the FDNY Special Operations Command on Roosevelt Island, The Museum of Modern Art and Engine Company 264 in Far Rockaway.

West said he is “thankful to God” for allowing him to become “the first African American poetic graphical artist to present the Sept. 11 attack in a surrealist art form.”

Currently West is self-publishing his collection addressing the Sept. 11 attacks but he is hoping to generate enough interest to get a major publisher to pick up the book.

He also plans on approaching local bookstores to get them to carry The Landscapes Of Ground Zero.

    To learn more about West’s book, e-mail pty_art @yahoo.com   or call Poetry as Art at 527-9310.

In death as in life
one thing never changes
the cross of Jesus Christ
for it remains the same
He was there in the destruction
to comfort those in need
He was a shoulder to lean on
so they could rest and be at ease
He was there to take the pain
that so many people had
and give new life to those waiting
and joy to those who were sad
He told us, He’ll never leave
no matter how bad it got
that’s why The Crosss
Is Still Standing
in what is now a scared spot

– Excerpt from
Landscapes of Ground Zero