By OSWALD T. BROWN
WASHINGTON, D.C. — When he was appointed Bahamas Honorary Consul to Texas in 2015, at his commissioning ceremony at the Bahamas Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Nassau on Monday, February, 23, 2015, Lynden B. Rose stressed he was “honoured” to giving back to his home country.
“Without the upbringing that I’ve had, and the friends I made along the way and those individuals who have invested in me, I wouldn’t be who I am today. So I’m happy to give back,” he was quoted as saying in an article published in The Tribune on the commissioning ceremony.
Mr. Rose was among the excellent selections made by then Foreign Affairs Minister Fred Mitchell from Bahamians living abroad to be represent The Bahamas diplomatically at the Honorary Consul level in various jurisdictions across the United States that did not have a fully staffed Consulate headed by a Consul General to assist Bahamians in the diaspora in their jurisdictions.
In California, noted Bahamian actor Cedric Scott has filled this position with distinction over the past several years, and the same is true about Michael C. Fountain, Honorary Consul to Chicago, whose Midwestern jurisdiction includes Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North and South Dakota and Wisconsin.
Lynden B. Rose was a perfect choice to represent The Bahamas diplomatically in Texas. Although Alaska is the largest U.S. state on the continent of North America, Texas is the largest state in the contiguous United States, and Lynden B. Rose was possibly as well-known in the state of Texas during his years as an outstanding college basketball player as Sam Houston and William Travis or any of the other Texas revolutionary leaders who are partially responsible for the fact that Texas today is one of the 50 states of the United States and not an extension of Mexico.
As documented by Wikipedia, Lynden Bernard Rose Sr. was born November 14, 1960 and is a Bahamian retired basketball player, who “is best known as co-captain of the first of the three Phi Slama Jama teams at the University of Houston.”
Wikipedia adds: “Rose was born and grew up in the city of Nassau in the Bahamas. He attended Miami Jackson High School and Miami Springs High School in the Miami, Florida area.
“After transferring from North Harris County College, Rose played as a point guard for the University of Houston Cougars from 1980 to 1982, starting both years and wearing the number 00. As a senior, Rose co-captained the 1981–82 team, the first of three squads that would later bear the moniker of ‘Phi Slama Jama.’ Rose and the rest of ‘Texas’ Tallest Fraternity’ reached the Final Four of the 1982 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament. In the national semifinals, Houston lost to the eventual champions, the University of North Carolina Tar Heels.”
Rose’s “Phi Slama Jama” teammates on the Cougars included NBA greats Hakeem “The Dream” Olajuwon and Clyde “The Glide” Drexler, who earned their nickname because of their slam-dunking and explosive, fast-breaking style of play in the 1980s.
Wikipedia notes that Lynden Rose was drafted by the Los Angeles Lakers “in the sixth round of the 1982 NBA draft with the 136th overall pick,” but “never played a minute for the team and was cut during the preseason. The following year, the Houston Rockets signed and released Rose during the preseason.”
Lynden Rose played his first professional season in the Continental Basketball Association (CBA), and he “split the 1982–83 season between the Las Vegas Silvers and Billings Volcanos, averaging 9.6 points over 30 games.”
Wikipedia adds: “Rose is now a prominent attorney in the Houston area. He was a member of the University of Houston Board of Regents from 2004 to 2009. His wife, Marilyn A. Rose, is the Vice Chair of the Texas Southern University Board of Regents.”
Rose’s older brother, Cecil Rose Jr., who died on December 27, 2013, in Houston, also had a stellar career with the Houston Cougars from 1974 to 1978.
Another brother, the late Dr Matthew Rose, was PLP member of parliament for the Saint Barnabas constituency in New Providence.
Lynen Rose and his wife Marilyn are, in a manner of speaking, a “power couple” in Houston. He is a prominent lawyer and she a Certified Public Accountant, who was appointed to the Texas Southern University Board of Regents by Governor Greg Abbott in 2015 and is currently its Second Vice Chair.
As a Certified Public Accountant and a former Registered Texas Assessor Collector, Mrs. Rose has over five years of audit experience in the Public Accountant Firm of Price Waterhouse Coopers and Deloitte & Touche and nine years of Internal Audit experience with the Harris County Tax Assessor-Collector Office.
The Roses have thee children: Lynden Jr., Lynnard and Madelyn.
