Cedella Booker, the mother of the late Jamaican and international reggae superstar Bob Marley died late Tuesday April 8, at the age of 82.Information, Culture and Youth Minister Olivia ‘Babsy’ Grange hailed Booker’s contribution to Jamaica’s culture as invaluable and said that her strength of character influenced her son’s discipline and determination in taking reggae music to the world. “Jamaica has lost a true heroine and I wish to express condolences to the family. May they find solace in knowing that Mrs. Booker’s life was well lived and that the contributions she made will not be forgotten,” Grange said. Booker, who was a singer and songwriter as well as the author of two books, ‘Bob Marley, My Son’ and ‘Bob Marley: An Intimate Portrait by His Mother’, died in her sleep at her home in South Florida. She was the matriarch of a Marley musical legacy that remains strong in her grandchildren including Ziggy, Cedella, Stephen, Kymani, Julian, Damian. Born Cedella Malcolm in 1926, she married Norval Sinclair Marley, a white Jamaican of English ancestry, when she was 18. Bob was 10 years old when his father died in 1955 at age 60. Cedella and Bob then moved to the inner city community of Trench Town in Kingston, where Bob’s musical career began. His mother later remarried an American and moved to the United States. No arrangements for the funeral have been released..