Avia Collinder, Gleaner Writer

Kent Gammon, 33, has spent the better part of his young life with his nose stuck between the pages of books. Most recently he was reading Das Kapital, by Karl Marx, after work and after playtime with his one-year-old daughter at home in St Andrew.

His interest in state systems and their use of power is deep.

Book on Jamaica

Gammon is author of the recently published work on Jamaican politics and economics, Two Steps Forward, Two Steps Backward - the Jamaican Story 1972-2007. He says the book was 10 years in the making and done with many starts and stops.

The text, he states, is intended to correct the historical record for young people of his generation.

Gammon's educational back-ground is an eclectic one and a moredetailed observation of his résumé reveals his involvement in the Jamaica Labour Party and its affiliate, Generation 2000, which he helped to start.

Yet, while Two Steps Forward, Two Steps Backward is unashamedly a 'balancing of the books' in favour of the Jamaica Labour Party, it makes interesting reading. And people who need information on the behind-the-scenes decision making at the level of government in Jamaica might find ituseful.

Management background

Gammon has a Bachelor of Science degree in management studies, which he obtained from the University of the West Indies, and certificates in business studies and administration from the University of Technology.

He was enrolled as a lawyer in New South Wales, Australia, after completing a master's degree in commercial and corporate law at the University of New South Wales (his simple explanation is that it is always useful to be enrolled in more than one jurisdictions).

After working as a senior associate at the law firm DunnCox in 2008 he formed a partnership with Sean Clarke - Clarke and Gammon - with offices in Kingston and Mandeville.

The young lawyer's practice includes negligence, employment law, conveyancing, contract law, libel and slander. He specialises in civil litigation, particularly in commercial law.

While Gammon is committed to his clients, he will be the first to admit that he is even more interested in Jamaica and how it is run.

Two Steps Forward, Two steps backward - the Jamaican Story 1972-2007 is a passionate and informed discussion of the challenges which have faced the island in the 35-year period.

One such issue is corruption. Gammon notes, "Corruption can reduce growth, reducing the quality of the existing infrastructure. It increases the cost of doing business for both government and the private sector and leads to lower output and lower growth."

Several quotes

The book quotes several documents which have not been available for public scrutiny and will delight readers with its revealing details on corruption and other issues.

Gammon states that his editor did not allow the book to go to print until he could legitimise every one of his sources. It was an exhausting process and one which took 10 years of effort, but the result, he feels, is something which contributes significantly to historical record.

The attorney tutors at the University of the West Indies, Mona, in the philosophy of law and is also a director of Wallenford Coffee Company Limited, Consumer Affairs Commission, the Edna Manley College of Arts and ChiChiBud Limited, which is committed to the welfare of Jamaican children.

Gammon, married for two years, occupies his time reading widely, writing, playing squash and dandling his daughter on his knee.

As happy as he is about the birth of his first child, he is equally delighted that his book is finally off the press.