There and Black Again tells the lifestory of Don Letts, looking back on his exceptional life. Letts – filmmaker, musician, DJ, broadcaster, social commentator, husband and father – has always defied conformity. A British-born son of Windrush parents, he seamlessly pivoted between London’s punk and reggae scenes, earning his reputation as the ‘Rebel Dread’.

His autobiography covers many pivotal moments in his life, which has seen him befriend Bob Marley after sneaking into his hotel, join The Clash’s White Riot tour as manager of The Slits, and become one of the UK’s most highly regarded video directors just as the MTV boom hit.

Letts is as old as rock ‘n’ roll (b. 1956) and has lived a life infused with music, style and attitude. As DJ at London’s premier punk venue The Roxy (Jan-March 1977) Don introduced punks to reggae, and Bob Marley to the punky-reggae party. He made his first film while working at The Roxy (The Punk Rock Movie) using a hand-held Super-8 camera. Twenty years later Don directed the most successful Jamaican movie of all time, Dancehall Queen. In 1979 he directed the video for London Calling by The Clash, after which he became renowned as one of the world’s most prolific and successful music video directors, going on to make more than 300 promos for artists as diverse as Elvis Costello, P.i.L and Ratt. Don co-wrote four hugely successful and influential Big Audio Dynamite albums and toured the world in the 1980s, performing in front of thousands of people. The band played sell-out gigs around the world on a brief reunion tour in 2011.

Told in part as scenes from a movie shot on location in London, Kingston, New York City, Los Angeles, Windhoek, Salt Lake City and Goldeneye, There and Black Again co-stars a cast of hundreds, including Joe Strummer, John Lydon, Bob Marley, Chrissie Hynde, Chris Blackwell, Paul McCartney, Nelson Mandela, Keith Richards, Patti Smith, Chuck D., Malcolm McLaren and Vivienne Westwood.

With reflections on the Black Lives Matter movement and the highs and lows of personal relationships, this impactful book includes moments of civil unrest, live music, humour and political struggle. There and Black Again is the refreshing and often unexpected story of a man who has never been afraid to tread his own path.

Available from Omnibus Press

Mal Peachey has written for Vox, Time Out, the Daily Telegraph and many other publications. He is currently editor-in-chief of Rocket 88 Books.

About the Author

Bryen Dunn is a freelance journalist based in Toronto with a focus on tourism, lifestyle, entertainment and community issues. He has written several travel articles and has an extensive portfolio of celebrity interviews with musicians, actors and other public personalities. He’s willing to take on any assignments of interest, attend parties with free booze, listen to rants, and travel the world in search of the great unknown. He’s eager to discover the new, remember the past, and look into the future.