Gratitude has been expressed by Dr Dorothy Matthews, the well-known owner and operator of Dottie’s Unisex Beauty Centre in King Street, Hamilton to all who attended the Memorial Service a fortnight ago at Vernon Temple AME Church, Southampton for her son Edward McClarence Matthews.Since then many have offered their condolences to his surviving family, both in Bermuda and Canada, where he spent the last 35 years of his life.Edward, or Eddie as he was popularly known, was the third child of Dr Dorothy and her late husband Clinton Matthews. He was less than a month away from his 69th birthday when he passed away on October 23. Although he had slowed down in recent years, while recovering from a brain tumour which nearly took his life in 2001, his end was sudden and a surprise.The many nicknames by which Edward was known, particularly in Canada, where they called him “Fast Eddie,” demonstrated his flamboyance and lifestyle. He was known as “Ah Eddie”, Cock Robin and Eddie Blue.As a matter of fact, his obituary described him as being strong headed from the very beginning: he was in such a hurry that he was born at home before arrival of the midwife.In his teen age years he was overwhelmed by a passion for speed, adventure and excitement. He started riding motorbikes long before the legal age. Often he rode on the sand dunes of South Shore and later at Ferry Reach. He had an influential role in starting racing at Coney Island. And when the motocross track was opened at Southside, he was invited to come back home from Canada to ride on the opening of the newest fast track.A graduate of Ord Road School and Sandys Secondary, Eddie spent most of his time in Warwick with his brothers Walter and Cornel and his sister Yvette, who survive. He was a keen soccer player, and had an attraction to water sports, owning a little boat that once sank at Darrell’s Wharf.His interests took a new curve after he met and married his Canadian wife, Marie. She had come to Bermuda in 1972 to work as a pre-school child carer. Going to Canada to make their home in Bowmanville, Ontario, he transferred his interests from motocross racing at Coney Island to racing on the snow and ice; and his passion for sailing on Lake Ontario almost consumed him.He made himself known on the lake, not just being one of the few black sailors, but one of the best overall. He won many regettas in his first boat named Foot Loose and bigger craft requiring a crew of four or five for best handling, named Rum Runner. That’s how he became known as “Fast Eddie”.