Former West Indies cricket commentator and OECS Sports Director Joseph ‘Reds’ Perreira has commenced work on his memoirs which he plans to launch before the 2010 Twenty/20 World Cup.
Perreira’s career has spanned over 50 years and has taken him all across the Caribbean and over several continents.
The autobiography starts with Perreira’s early beginnings in the Pomeroon River, Essequibo and traces his struggles with a speech impediment on his way to becoming one of the most respected commentators in West Indies cricket alongside his colleague and friend Tony Cozier.
His career in radio began in 1968 with the Guyana Broadcasting Service (GBS).
He later became advisor to the Minister of Sport and was chairman of the National Sports Development Council (NSDC) from 1973-78.
His travels took him from England to India to Australia and put him in the company of outstanding voices of cricket commentary such as John Arlott, Alan McGilvary, Jim Maxwell and Christopher Martin-Jenkins.
In 1984, Perreira was appointed Sports Director at the OECS Sports Desk in St Lucia where he served 12 years developing an OECS sporting identity and growing a sustainable sport programme. In 1996, he suffered a debilitating stroke while covering cricket in Australia, from which he made a remarkable recovery.
“That was really the most frightening period of my life,” he recalls.
“I did not see how I would make a full recovery, but with the support of an amazing network of doctors, family, friends and sports-loving supporters I was able to confront the biggest challenge of my life,” he added.
His career did not end there.
He continued broadcasting and took a position as sports consultant to the St Lucia Tourist Board, while at the same time establishing a Sports Foundation in Guyana to give back to the community. He was president of the St Lucia Amateur Boxing Association from 2004-2008 and is currently the Director of the Sports for Life Programme in St Lucia.
“Since arriving I’ve always felt comfortable and accepted by the St Lucian public and decided to make it my home,” he said.
Perreira is working with experienced local journalist Katherine Atkinson, while Cozier has agreed to write the foreword.
His memoirs are expected to be released early next year in St Lucia, Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago and Guyana. The endeavour has received much support from the sports fraternity and significant regional private sector sponsorship.