Braithwaite, Edward Ricardo (1920– )

Guyanese author. His writings explore the problems and dilemmas faced by humans in inhumane situations. His experiences as a teacher in London prompted To Sir With Love (1959). His books Reluctant Neighbours (1972) and Honorary White (1975) deal with black–white relations.

Born in British Guiana (now Guyana) in 1920, he attended City College (now City University of New York) in 1940, and then Cambridge University, England, where he received a master's degree in physics. He was a Royal Air Force Pilot in World War II. Unable to find employment afterwards, Braithwaite became a teacher, and then a social worker, resulting in his second novel Paid Servant (1962). Braithwaite continued to write after serving as ambassador to the United Nations (UN) for Guyana, as Guyana's ambassador to Venezuela, and working for UNESCO in Paris, France. He has also taught English at New York University and Florida State University. He is writer in residence and a teacher of English at Howard University in Washington, DC, where he is editor of the annual publication Faces and Voices: An Anthology of Student Literature.