Dozens of well-wishers braved fowl weather last night to pay tribute to Dame Lois-Browne Evans at the launch of a biography of her life.

The veteran MP and Attorney General joked with the audience, packed with PLP parliamentarians, friends and family, that author Randy Williams had the patience of Job during the eight years it took to right the book.

And she confessed that the author had to dispatch Colonel Burch and Senator Michael Scott to retrieve chapters which she had banished to drawer bottoms when she was supposed to be running her eye over them.

Mr. Williams described Dame Lois as dedicating her life to social and human rights.

Audience member Assistant Justice Charles Etta Simmons, one of 100 female lawyers who have followed Dame Lois's pioneering path, said: "She came through the system but she had no role models, she blazed a trail."

Veteran PLP member Arthur Hodgson said Dame Lois had not given in to fear in a time when blacks were scared they would have their mortgages called and lose their jobs if they spoke out.

Premier Jennifer Smith told The Royal Gazette: "It's rare you get to know intimately people who have shaped the times in which one is living.

"It seemed natural to follow her around, which I did for a year or two.

"I can't get over the fact that she held a law practice and still raised three children. Nowadays we are used to all of that."

Lois: Bermuda's Grande Dame of Politics is available for the reduced price of $20 until Christmas but will then retail at $32. For a combined price of $35 politics buffs can buy Mr. Williams biographies of E.T. (Bob) Richards and Dame Lois.