Rick Wayne born 27 January 1938

Rick Wayne (born Learie Carasco, 27 January 1938), OBE,  is a St. Lucian writer, editor, former professional bodybuilder and pop singer.

Wayne was born Learie Carasco in St. Lucia. In the 1950s he immigrated to England, and served two years in the Royal Signals, most of the time in Yorkshire. On returning to civilian life in London, he was spotted singing in a club and successfully auditioned for record producer Joe Meek.

          

                        


Renamed as Ricky Wayne (a combination of Ricky Nelson and John Wayne), he released a single, "Hot Chickaroo", which was produced by Meek and on which Wayne was backed by The Fabulous Flee-Rakkers. Although the single and its follow-ups were not commercial successes, Wayne established a singing career for several years and for a while had his own show on Radio Luxembourg.

In 1963, at age 25, Wayne placed sixth at the FIHC Mr. Universe contest. In the July 1964 issue of MUSCLE BUILDER, he was hailed as "England's Music-Muscle Man" because of his nightclub singing act in London. Later that year, he won the tall class at the Mr. Europe and placed second in the tall class at the Mr. Universe in Paris. In 1965, he won the short-class title at the IFBB Mr. Universe, held in conjunction with the first-ever Mr. Olympia. He went on to earn the 1967 IFBB Mr. Universe short-class title, as well as the overal at the 1967 Mr. World. He won the 1969 Mr. Universe and the 1970 Mr. World medium-class titles.

Wayne is the author of numerous articles and books on bodybuilding and politics. While pursuing a professional bodybuilding career, he began to write regularly for bodybuilding magazines, particularly Joe Weider's Muscle Builder and Flex in the 1970s and '80s (two separate periods of employment). He also wrote for Dan Lurie's Muscular Development magazine in 1994–95.

Wayne moved back to St. Lucia (where he now resides) and in 1986, in collaboration with his now wife, former US bodybuilder Mae Mollica Sabbagh, founded the Star Publishing Company. Its publications include a newspaper, St Lucia Star, and two magazines, Tropical Traveller and She Caribbean. The St Lucia Star is a hard-hitting controversial newspaper that has incurred the wrath of both major political parties on the island.

Wayne served as an opposition party senator until 1998, when he was booted out of the Senate by then Prime Minister Kenny Anthony for his opposition of a government guarantee of a failing St. Lucian airline.

Wayne is the host of a politically charged local television talk show, simply called Talk, which features on DBS TV for a Thursday-night slot of two and a half hours. He is known for aggressive interviews and fiery comments about various ills on the island. He rails about press freedom, whether locally or internationally.

In 2007, Wayne was honoured as an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the Queen's Birthday Honours List for his contribution to journalism in St. Lucia. (Info edited from Wikipedia & IFBB Caribbean)