Panama disease the Cavendish was then thought to be immune, but was immune only to the strain of the fungus that destroyed the Gros Michel. The version that annihilated the Gros Michel was found in only the Western Hemisphere, but the version found in Malaysian soil was different, and the Cavendish is susceptible to it. It killed and spread faster, inspiring more panic than its earlier counterpart in Panama. The newly discovered strain of "F. oxysporum" was named "tropical race 4 (TR4)". The resulting worldwide collapse in the banana trade is said to have inspired the song "Yes! We Have No Bananas".
Norman Panama Court Jester," among other movies. He won an Edgar Award for "A Talent for Murder" (1981), a play he co-wrote with Jerome Chodorov. Panama continued to write and direct through the 1980s. He died in 2003 in Los Angeles, California, aged 88, from complications of Parkinson's disease. Norman Panama Norman Kaye Panama (April 21, 1914 – January 13, 2003) was an American screenwriter and film director born in Chicago, Illinois. He collaborated with a former schoolfriend, Melvin Frank, to form a writing partnership which endured for three decades. He also wrote gags for comedians such as Bob Hope's radio program