# Heather Little-White > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Heather_Little-White > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Heather_Little-White.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heather_Little-White > Source revision: 1335281361 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|Jamaican nutritionist and disabilities activist (1952–2013)}} {{Infobox person | name = Heather Little-White | honorific_suffix = [OD](/source/Order_of_Distinction_(Jamaica)) | image = Heather_Little-White.jpg | alt = | caption = | birth_name = Heather Edecca Little-White | birth_date = {{Birth date|1952|05|08|df=y}} | birth_place = Somerton, [Saint James Parish](/source/Saint_James_Parish%2C_Jamaica), [Colony of Jamaica](/source/Colony_of_Jamaica), British Empire | death_date = {{Death date and age|2013|01|22|1952|05|08|df=y}} | death_place = [Kingston](/source/Kingston%2C_Jamaica), Jamaica | other_names = | occupation = Nutritionist, journalist, disabilities activist | years_active = 1973–2013 | known_for = | notable_works = }} '''Heather Little-White''' [OD](/source/Order_of_Distinction_(Jamaica)) (8 May 1952 – 22 January 2013) was a [Jamaican](/source/Jamaicans) nutritionist, journalist and disabilities activist. After earning degrees in nutrition and communication, she worked with Grace Kitchens and founded the television programme ''Creative Cooking'' to share sound nutritional advice throughout the country. As a journalist, besides writing articles on nutrition, she wrote a weekly column on sexuality for the ''Outlook Magazine'' segment of ''[The Gleaner](/source/The_Gleaner_(newspaper))'' newspaper. After working with the [Reggae Boyz](/source/Reggae_Boyz), Jamaica's national football team, as a nutrition consultant, Little-White became paralyzed from the waist down after being shot during a robbery attempt. Becoming an advocate for people with disabilities, she focused on bringing awareness, accessibility, and assistance to Jamaicans living with disabilities. She was honored as an officer in the [Order of Distinction](/source/Order_of_Distinction_(Jamaica)) in 2001. ==Early life== Heather Edecca Little-White was born on 8 May 1952 in Somerton, [Saint James Parish, Jamaica](/source/Saint_James_Parish%2C_Jamaica), to Rubertha (née Little) and Leonard White.{{sfn|Shurvin|2016}} She and her brother, Lennie{{sfn|''The Gleaner''|2013|p=1}} were raised in Somerton and she attended the All-Age School until the age of nine. Completing her primary schooling at Montego Bay School for Girls, she attended St. Hilda’s High School in [Brown's Town](/source/Brown's_Town). In 1970, Litte-White enrolled in a course on institutional management at the [College of Arts Science and Technology](/source/University_of_Technology%2C_Jamaica), graduating in 1972.{{sfn|Shurvin|2016}} ==Career== Over the next six years, Little-White held a variety of jobs, including working at a children's hospital as a dietitian's assistant, at two secondary schools in the home economics department, and as a journalist for ''[The Gleaner](/source/The_Gleaner_(newspaper))''. In 1978, she moved to the United States and completed a [B.S.](/source/B.S.) in nutrition and a master's degree in communication at the [University of Wisconsin–Stout](/source/University_of_Wisconsin%E2%80%93Stout). She returned to Jamaica in 1981 and began working at [Grace Kennedy and Company Limited](/source/Grace_Kennedy_and_Company_Limited) in the marketing department. By 1984, Little-White was working as Grace's nutrition promotion manager and began developing educational initiatives on ways to improve the nutrition of women and children. One of those programmes was the development of the first television programme devoted to nutritional advice, called ''Creative Cooking''.{{sfn|Shurvin|2016}} The show became a staple of Grace's marketing plan and their flagship programme, airing for decades and teaching cooks how to affordably prepare nutritious meals.{{sfn|''The Gleaner''|19 April 2009|p=118}} After almost a decade at Grace, Little-White returned to school in 1988 to complete a research project and her PhD at [Cornell University](/source/Cornell_University) in [Ithaca, New York](/source/Ithaca%2C_New_York), examining the intersections on gender and nutritional education.{{sfn|Shurvin|2016}}{{sfn|The Gleaner Company|2001}} When she returned from the United States in 1992, she began working with the School Feeding Programme, the Urban Development Corporation, and several United Nations programmes, as a consultant.{{sfn|The Gleaner Company|2001}} In 1997, she began lecturing at the University of Technology and the following year worked as a consultant on the nutrition plans for the [Reggae Boyz](/source/Reggae_Boyz), Jamaica's national football team, on journey to the World Cup competition in France.{{sfn|Shurvin|2016}}{{sfn|''The Jamaica Observer''|2013}} In 1999, Little-White was shot during an attempted [carjacking](/source/carjacking) in [Saint Andrew Parish](/source/Saint_Andrew_Parish%2C_Jamaica), when two gunmen tried to steal her car.{{sfn|''The Gleaner''|8 July 1999|p=3}} She was flown to [Jackson Memorial Hospital](/source/Jackson_Memorial_Hospital) in [Miami](/source/Miami), Florida after discovering that the bullet which entered her shoulder was lodged in her spine, paralyzing the lower part of her body.{{sfn|''The Gleaner''|23 July 1999|p=12}} After her recovery, Little-White returned to Jamaica becoming an advocate for the rights of people with disabilities.{{sfn|Shurvin|2016}} In 2001, Little-White was awarded the [Order of Distinction](/source/Order_of_Distinction_(Jamaica)) for her work in educating Jamaicans about nutrition.{{sfn|''The Gleaner''|2001|p=55}} Little-White focused on outreach programmes to increase awareness, accessibility, and assistance for Jamaicans with disabilities in her later years.{{sfn|Shurvin|2016}} She ran a consulting firm providing life skills as well as nutritional advice and wrote a weekly column for ''[The Gleaner](/source/The_Gleaner_(newspaper))'' newspaper's ''Outlook Magazine'', which openly covered a variety of topics on sexuality. Continuing her lecturing at the School of Hospitality for the University of Technology,{{sfn|''The Gleaner''|2007|pp=51–52}} she also founded a programme to teach domestic skills to [sex worker](/source/sex_worker)s to help those who wanted to transition out of the industry develop marketable alternative skills.{{sfn|''The Gleaner''|2 November 2009|p=33}} ==Death and legacy== Little-White died on 22 January 2013 at the [Kingston Public Hospital](/source/Kingston_Public_Hospital) after a four-month illness.{{sfn|''The Gleaner''|2013|p=1}} The Jamaica Household Worker's Union gives an annual award bearing her name to acknowledge the public service contributions made by domestic workers.{{sfn|Lowrie-Chin|2017}} == References == ===Citations=== {{Reflist|30em}} ===Bibliography=== {{refbegin|30em}} *{{cite news|last1=Lowrie-Chin|first1=Jean|title=Jamaica's household workers in the spotlight|url=http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/opinion/jamaica-8217-s-household-workers-in-the-spotlight_113290?profile=1444|access-date=30 October 2017|newspaper=[The Jamaica Observer](/source/The_Jamaica_Observer)|date=9 October 2017|location=Kingston, Jamaica|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171030235048/http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/opinion/jamaica-8217-s-household-workers-in-the-spotlight_113290?profile=1444|archive-date=30 October 2017}} *{{cite book|last1=Shurvin|first1=Rebecca D.|editor-last1=Knight|editor-first1=Franklin W.|editor-last2=Gates|editor-first2=Henry Louis Jr.|title=Dictionary of Caribbean and Afro–Latin American Biography|url=http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780199935796.001.0001/acref-9780199935796-e-1218?rskey=eIhZ4M&result=1|year=2016|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=Oxford, England|isbn=978-0-199-93579-6|chapter=Little-White, Heather Edecca (1952–2013), nutritionist, journalist, and advocate}} {{subscription required|via=[http://www.oxfordreference.com/ Oxford University Press]'s Reference Online}} *{{cite news|ref={{harvid|''The Gleaner''|23 July 1999}}|author=|title=Fund set up for Dr. Heather Little-White|url=https://newspaperarchive.com/susun-wilkinson-celebrity-clipping-jul-23-1999-443154/|access-date=30 October 2017|newspaper=[The Gleaner](/source/The_Gleaner_(newspaper))|date=23 July 1999|location=Kingston, Jamaica|page=12|via = [Newspaperarchive.com](/source/Newspaperarchive.com)}} {{open access}} *{{cite news|ref={{harvid|''The Gleaner''|2 November 2009}}|author=|title=Commercial sex workers make career move|url=https://newspaperarchive.com/susun-wilkinson-celebrity-clipping-nov-02-2009-443322/|access-date=30 October 2017|newspaper=[The Gleaner](/source/The_Gleaner_(newspaper))|date=2 November 2009|location=Kingston, Jamaica|page=33|via = [Newspaperarchive.com](/source/Newspaperarchive.com)}} {{open access}} *{{cite news|ref={{harvid|''The Gleaner''|19 April 2009}}|author=|title=Grace through the years|url=https://newspaperarchive.com/susun-wilkinson-celebrity-clipping-apr-19-2009-443274/|access-date=30 October 2017|newspaper=[The Gleaner](/source/The_Gleaner_(newspaper))|date=19 April 2009|location=Kingston, Jamaica|page=118|via = [Newspaperarchive.com](/source/Newspaperarchive.com)}} {{open access}} *{{cite news|ref={{harvid|''The Gleaner''|2007}}|author=|title=Heather Little-White (pt 1)|url=https://newspaperarchive.com/susun-wilkinson-celebrity-clipping-mar-08-2007-443100/|access-date=30 October 2017|newspaper=[The Gleaner](/source/The_Gleaner_(newspaper))|date=8 March 2007|location=Kingston, Jamaica|page=51|via = [Newspaperarchive.com](/source/Newspaperarchive.com)}} {{open access}} and {{cite news|title=Heather Little-White (pt 2)|url=https://newspaperarchive.com/susun-wilkinson-celebrity-clipping-mar-08-2007-443101/|access-date=30 October 2017|newspaper=[The Gleaner](/source/The_Gleaner_(newspaper))|date=8 March 2007|location=Kingston, Jamaica|page=52|via = [Newspaperarchive.com](/source/Newspaperarchive.com)}} {{open access}} *{{cite news|ref={{harvid|''The Gleaner''|8 July 1999}}|author=|title=Heather Little-White shot|url=https://newspaperarchive.com/susun-wilkinson-celebrity-clipping-jul-08-1999-443152/|access-date=30 October 2017|newspaper=[The Gleaner](/source/The_Gleaner_(newspaper))|date=8 July 1999|location=Kingston, Jamaica|page=3|via = [Newspaperarchive.com](/source/Newspaperarchive.com)}} {{open access}} *{{cite news|ref={{harvid|''The Gleaner''|2013}}|author=|title=Jamaica loses Little-White|url=https://newspaperarchive.com/susun-wilkinson-obituary-clipping-jan-23-2013-443140/|access-date=30 October 2017|newspaper=[The Gleaner](/source/The_Gleaner_(newspaper))|date=23 January 2013|location=Kingston, Jamaica|page=1|via = [Newspaperarchive.com](/source/Newspaperarchive.com)}} {{open access}} *{{cite web|ref={{harvid|The Gleaner Company|2001}}|author=|title=Little-White, Heather Edecca|url=http://discoverjamaica.com/lnames.htm|website=Discover Jamaica|publisher=[The Gleaner Company Limited](/source/The_Gleaner_Company_Limited)|access-date=30 October 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160902113508/http://discoverjamaica.com/lnames.htm|archive-date=2 September 2016|location=Kingston, Jamaica|date=2001}} *{{cite news|ref={{harvid|''The Gleaner''|2001}}|author=|title=Nation honours 108|url=https://newspaperarchive.com/susun-wilkinson-celebrity-clipping-aug-07-2001-443126/|access-date=30 October 2017|newspaper=[The Gleaner](/source/The_Gleaner_(newspaper))|date=7 August 2001|location=Kingston, Jamaica|page=55|via = [Newspaperarchive.com](/source/Newspaperarchive.com)}} {{open access}} *{{cite news|ref={{harvid|''The Jamaica Observer''|2013}}|author=|title=Nutritionist Dr Heather Little-White dies|url=http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/Nutritionist-Dr-Heather-Little-White-dies|access-date=30 October 2017|newspaper=[The Jamaica Observer](/source/The_Jamaica_Observer)|date=23 January 2013|location=Kingston, Jamaica|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161020190346/http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/Nutritionist-Dr-Heather-Little-White-dies|archive-date=20 October 2016}} {{refend}} {{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Little-White, Heather}} Category:1952 births Category:2013 deaths Category:20th-century women writers Category:Cornell University alumni Category:Jamaican disability rights activists Category:Jamaican journalists Category:Jamaican women journalists Category:Nutritionists Category:Officers of the Order of Distinction Category:People from Saint James Parish, Jamaica --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Heather Little-White](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heather_Little-White) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heather_Little-White?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.