De Livera reaches 80 in real 'Baronial style'

By Gaston de Rosayro- Sunday Times Apr 25 2010

Baron de Livera, Colombo's most endearing man-about-town has turned eighty while retaining his youthful spirit and debonair air. He is still regarded as the doyen in the realm of local marketing and print advertising. No one in the fraternity has been able to match the eminence of this trailblazing icon in an arena that still remains a battleground of blood and thunder in the context of high-pressure salesmanship. Over the years, his charisma, dynamism and persistence has helped propel him into the competitive corporate sector both as a successful entrepreneur and investment consultant. Happy partnership: Baron and Augusta, today and on their wedding day A local journalist once doing a profile on him paid him the highest tribute with these words: "If Dale Carnegie could have written a book on 'Winning Friends and Influencing People', this charming personality could write just one slim booklet which would outsell Carnegie a thousand times over." His grandfather Baron de Livera (Snr.), was one of the most successful Ceylonese merchant princes during the colonial era. He was the founder-owner of the Cargo Boat Despatch Company and was featured in the prestigious Lloyd's "Twentieth Century Impressions of Ceylon". His grandson decidedly inherited a good part of that entrepreneurial streak and is also a creative businessman and industrialist who has enriched the boards of some of the country's leading private companies. He headed a firm that revolutionized the country's tea packing process with a groundbreaking idea of packing the product in corrugated cartons containing moisture barriers instead of the traditional wooden chests. Apart from the fact that the cartons were cheaper than the chests and ensuring the cargo remained fresh on arrival the process was necessitated because of a worldwide shortage of timber at the time. While at Lake House, he conjured up the innovative concept of printing bank cheques locally, a prospect unthinkable at the time when Waterloo and Sons and Bradbury Wilkinsons of England held an international market monopoly in security printing. He convinced the then Bank of Ceylon General Manager, the formidable Chelliah Loganathan and eventually sold him the idea. In his windsurfing days As a result, the practice continues among all banks in the country to date saving millions in valuable foreign exchange. For Baron that accomplishment alone proved as good as a lucrative gold-strike. He earned for himself a colossal commission every year which when totted up would surpass the wildest dreams of any advertising representative then or now. Baron's close association with the local medical fraternity came about after he helped revive the Ceylon Medical Journal the in-house organ of the Medical Association, which had been defunct for several years. As a result, most of the specialists, physicians and surgeons at the time became his closest friends and confidants. He thus had the privilege of access to the entire extensive medical network whenever his friends, their spouses or children fell ill. Baron is also among a surviving handful of pioneering water sports enthusiasts who helped introduce and popularise water-skiing, power-boat racing, yachting, windsurfing, canoeing and kayaking to Sri Lanka. Indeed, he excelled in both water-skiing and power-boat racing by lifting the champion's trophies in both aquatic sports on the trot for several years. His skills as a virtuoso power-boat driver earned him the enviable title of "The Flying Baron" by sports journalists. As a youth he excelled in several other terrestrial sports such as cricket, soccer and boxing. As a schoolboy he vice-captained the Christian College cricket XI where he distinguished himself as an accomplished all-rounder. Playing in the famous 'Battle of Kotte' big match against St. Thomas' Kotte he rattled up an unbeaten 63 runs to ensure victory for his school. He was also an adept but rather unorthodox goalkeeper for his school soccer squad who fancied punching the ball in all directions rather than fielding it. A bruising pugilist he won his weight on several occasions representing the Maligawatte Playground in the Colombo Municipal Council Boxing Championship. He is also a keen golfer with a handicap of 12. He also was a high-riding equestrian, taking over the reins from his father Peter de Livera as a Gentleman Rider during the golden era of the Ceylon Turf Club. Baron's credentials as a yachtsman are equally impressive. He sailed his own yacht round the island on several occasions and navigated the vessel to neighbouring India. He has been a member and office holder of many local clubs including the Otter Aquatic Club of which he was General Secretary, the Surf Life Saving Association of Ceylon, the Surf Club and the Colombo Swimming Club. He has also been President of the Powerboat Association and the Ski Club. Baron is widely considered the de facto goodwill ambassador of the country's water sports. Over the years he has been invited to share his wide-ranging expertise in developing the island's aquatic sports both as a tourist attraction and to draw in more local enthusiasts. In this sphere he has been liaising with officials of its overseas counterparts, foreign embassies and the Tourism Ministry among other organisations to resurrect the industry. Another former Lake House journalistic colleague in a yet to be published book refers to Baron as 'the Prince of Advertising’. He pays him the highest tribute in this final paragraph of the profile: "I am sure Baron has never stopped to count the number of his friends because he keeps making more all the time. And effortlessly. He is excellent company. I have never known him to hurt anyone, say or do anything offensive, even when people take advantage of his goodness to have cracks at his expense. He laughs easily even when some rib-splitting laughs are on himself." In truth, Baron de Livera himself represents far more than just an individual. He represents something that has changed our little world for the better. Besides, his name has become a synonym for the eternal spirit of youthful beliefs. One might be constrained to believe that he is a direct descendent of the ageless Peter Pan. And in similarity to that captivating mythological character his life has been an outstanding and wondrous adventure in an escapist 'Never land' of his own creation. It is hard to believe that somewhere along the line he has not sipped from the magical waters of the chimerical Fountain of Youth. It would be apt to quote the famous American writer and physician Oliver Wendell Holmes in the context of men of the calibre of Baron: 'For him in vain the envious seasons roll, Who bears eternal summer in his soul.' Doubtless, like most mortals he has had his share of ups and downs but has always displayed his ability to laugh his way through life while weathering the storms with his cheerful disposition and generosity of spirit. No doubt along with his wife, the charming Baroness Augusta, he celebrated the landmark occasion in characteristic 'Baronial Style'. Here's wishing this remarkable bon-vivant a happy birthday along with many more happier and sprightlier ones to come.