In 1973 my then husband came home and asked if we knew anyone who would be interested in a farm in Jamaica….a chicken farm to be exact. I didn’t understand that HE was VERY interested, but I soon realized we did know “someone” and it was Him. We visited the farm in June, he moved in August and I followed in October. We sublet the apartment with the understanding it was only for six month at a time and we came back every six months and resublet it for about 3 years. We had an old friend as a partner and when we left he would come down and when he left we came back and so it went. Sometimes it was for a six month period sometimes we were there together for 3 or 4 months. We had 35 acres – 3 that were cultivatable – the rest was in lumber, chicken coops that needed repair, orange trees, and a sweet house with a large/long back porch. We bought chicken in lots of 5000 and brought around 40,000 to market each season. We started out using a cistern for water – cold water – and then not long after we moved, there came hot water and a huge outdoor shower, and occasional visits to the beach. We were after all 5 miles up in the mountains/the bush. I ran the small truck farm (about 2 acres) and raised lots of parsley and other salad stuffs and vegetables for the hotels. We employed about 20 people, local residents who knew all there was to know about chickens. Obviously we knew how to market them but not very much about raising or killing them. Still I did do my duty in the line – weighing the chickens and making sure they were packed correctly in the freezer. We opened a restaurant on the property. We converted one of the coops into a nightclub. We fed tourists and had some dances in the club on a Saturday night. Once a month I sang with a jazz band in Montego Bay (more about that on another page) and then in 1976 Michael Manley declared a state of emergency. I didn’t understand all the politics around it. I only knew it meant the end of Jamaica for us. It was some of the best and worse times of life.People often ask me why I did it. What made me leave my career at age 35 when I was at that point when I should of or could have been making the moves to doing more. The reasons were mostly personal. I knew it would be a great, great adventure. And it was. A great adventure for which I am very grateful.
Lainie Cooke made her first record when she was 3. Her next titled "Here’s to Life" (2002) was recorded at 60. Her second CD, "It’s Always You" in 2008. Cooke's most recent release, "The Music Is the Magic" (2016) was produced by well known jazz musician, drummer/trumpeter Ralph Peterson on his Onyx label featuring Peterson, Tedd Firth on piano, Luques Curtis on Bass, Tabari Lake, bass, Myron Walden, saxes. All received excellent reviews and airplay. Cooke made her radio debut at 6 in her native Minneapolis, appeared on television at 11, and sang with local dance bands during her high school days. After studying theater for two years at the University of Minnesota, she moved to New York at age 20, and began a hugely successful career as voice-over artist for commercials, documentaries and motion pictures for four decades. She served on the board of directors of the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA - now SAG-AFTRA)) and as the union’s National Recording Secretary. Cooke frequently appears in clubs in New York and Los Angeles. Recently, she appeared at Mezzrow Jazz Club, Cornelia St. Cafe, Birdland in New York and New Brunswick Jazz Project, New Brunswick, NJ. For the last ten years she has also been an Associate Producer at New Heritage Theatre Group, the oldest not for profit black theater in NYC, est. in 1964.
