Sparrow fans disappointed by closed-casket viewing

Sascha Wil­son

Sev­er­al fans of ca­lyp­so leg­end Slinger “Mighty Spar­row” Fran­cis­co left dis­ap­point­ed yes­ter­day af­ter ar­riv­ing at the South­ern Acad­e­my for the Per­form­ing Arts (SAPA) in San Fer­nan­do, hop­ing to view his body, on­ly to learn that the cas­ket would re­main closed. The body of Spar­row, born Slinger Fran­cis­co, lay in re­pose in the venue’s Lit­tle The­atre lob­by as mem­bers of the pub­lic gath­ered to pay their fi­nal re­spects.

At the fam­i­ly’s re­quest, pho­tog­ra­phy and video record­ing of the cas­ket were pro­hib­it­ed.