This lead piece – a very summarized partial history really is most significantly different from what was planned for today’s offering.
But being obliquely, then emotionally, involved (in the hour of and) in the passing of Terry Holder a drastic switch from my original topic was virtually demanded, at around four on Wednesday afternoon.
I was in the office of Advertising Executive Vic Insanally at that time. Vic, had just left Mr Holder’s bedside and sensing the worst, had alerted a mutual friend and confidante, Rev. Evan Semple, to visit urgently the ailing veteran radio icon. The priest made it in time to send Terry off in and with prayer. Then Father Semple visited the office.
Vic Insanally, you see, was Terry Holder’s buddy for some sixty-plus years. From a glorious Queen’s College Class of the fifties – Holder, Rodney, Lewis, Insanally, McGowan, etc, etc – to entry into broadcasting to continued professional relationship during Holder’s final high-profile position at the Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company, the two remained colleagues and kindred pals.
What follows is my own tribute to history here, primarily through just names and programmes; a few personal recollections along with Vic Insanally’s own memories from school.
Guyana Radio: Names, programmes
After newspapers, radio held sway as Guyana’s mass medium for decades. Before the personalities, a few historical highlights.
Radio broadcasts started in British Guiana in the 1920’s and just four years after (1926) the BBC started broadcasting in Britain, wired/relayed broadcasts were heard via’s Georgetown’s telephone system; 1927-1931 experiments with short-wave transmitters were introduced; Station ZFY appeared in May 1938 and even the Trinidadians tuned into this ZFY B.G. Radio.
Rediffusion stepped in in 1950 and Radio Demerara was born becoming Guyana’s premier full-fledged Radio Station until BGBS became another “channel” in 1958. Ten years later BGBS became the powerful “GBS Action Radio” of post-independent Guyana (1968). Afterwards, GBC followed in 1979, government-owned; VOG and Radio Roraima appeared, then in 2004 there was established today’s NCN.
In Terry’s words…
In 1998 Vic Insanally and Dr Tulsi Dyal Singh collaborated to resuscitate the December magazine – staple, The Christmas Annual. I had the privilege of Editing that literacy effort. Terry Holder contributed a beautiful personalized piece on “The Rich Legacy of Radio”. Just a few lines from that gem of reminiscences.
“How well I remember the inaugural broadcast on that first day of October 1968. Up came the Station’s signature tune “Puppet On A String” heralding a new chapter in the nation’s broadcasting history and Hugh Cholmondeley indicating to the listening public: `we’re the puppet, you pull the string.’”
“Programmes like Action Line were introduced; the voices of the people began to be heard and Guyanese away from the Coast got the chance to listen to national radio…
“One of my most cherished memories is the coming together for joint broadcast coverage of the ceremonies leading to the burial of Sir David Rose in 1969. Dr Robert (Bobby) Moore was in the Brickdam Cathedral, Vic Insanally was outside of the Church, Carlton James, Ron Sanders and Hugh Cholmondeley manning points along the way and Rafiq Khan was at the Place of the Seven Ponds to say ‘Farewell Sweet Prince’ as the bugles sounded the last post and the guns gave their final salute. It remains, to my mind, the finest live broadcast ever in this country”.
“Glory-days” Names…
As Mr Holder recounted in the above article fifteen years ago, I give just a few names for our over-55’s to recall.
Ulric Gouveia, Rafiq Khan, Lilian Fraser, Olga Lopes-Seale, Pat Cameron, Wilbert Holder, Matthew Allen, Ron/Ray Robinson, Christopher Deane, Roland Phillips, Clairmont Taitt, Eshri Singh, Sonny Mohammed, Reds Perreira, Wordsworth McAndrew, Carlton James, Ayube Hamid, Beverly-Ann Roberts, Ed Fung, Bruiser Thomas, B.L. Crombie, Carlton James, etc, etc, etc.
Teensville, Panorama, Towards The Dawn, Night Ride, Club 760, Action Line, Berbice Calling, In Search Of A Star, Topical, East Meets West In Music, Indian Memory Album, Let The Lion Loose, Tides Of Susanburg, For Better, For Worse, Yours For The Asking, Mary Lane, Portia Faces Life, My Bones And My Flute, etc, etc, etc. Remember them, big-people?
Some personal glimpses…
I conclude this woefully – inadequate “Tribute to Terry” with lighter reflections from Vic. Their QC class produced much life-long brilliance for Guyana with Walter Rodney being in some “higher, different gear”. Vic recalls that Poor People’s Children at QC in those days had “the very best starched and pressed (old) clothes” to supplement tie and “bug-house”.
So Terry was always sartorially immaculate, good at table-tennis and great at High Jumping.
“`Boneyard’ Terry was so slight and slim that he held the QC High Jump record for years! The strong wind would lift and soar him over the bar…”
For me Fenty, I’ll never forget that it was General Manager of GBS Terence Holder – one “r” in “Terence” please – – who invited me to take over the reading of Creole Short- Stories when the great Wordsworth departed these shores. I suspect that I did not let Terry down.
Then there were the numerous days of the Post-Cabinet debriefings by then Information Minister Yvonne Harewood-Benn. I, acting as Chief Information Officer, would witness some serious bantering from Terry, Charlie de Florimonte and Cecil Griffith, which the Minister could have done without sometimes. (Holder even “protected” with silence, a “strange” gentleman from England foisted on our media during those days.)
The encomiums will be numerous over these days but I close by recalling that in P.S. Keith Booker’s office at the Culture Ministry in May 2008, I sat with Terry and Vibart Cambridge to plan Wordsworth’s Final Farewell at the Umana Yana. Terry mentioned that I had done little “producing”. I didn’t agree but I made him roar with laughter when I declared: “Terry, I can do this successfully. Even though is the first time Wordsworth dead. Mac nevva die before…”
Another Good Guyanese has left us, perhaps fed up with seeing plummetting standards.
Don , the party president?
Actually, truthfully, I don’t too mind seeing – even trying – some modest backball “dancing”. On relatively-private convivial occasions. But I am not president of our Republic, the office of which must attract a high level of decorum and integrity.
The images of President Ramotar publicly Backballing with a young-lady, now making the Internet/Cell-phone rounds, tend to compromise presidential dignity. Frankly Speaking however, the man is human and entitled to his Dancing and Karaoke singing on Brickdam. He should just keep it private and away from working cameras.
Mr Ramotar is a PPP “Party Man”, grassroots and people-oriented, but not blessed with “presidential bearing”. If he delivers a good government for all of us, his indiscretions would hardly matter. The Office of the Presidency always matters, however. (And the First Lady must be better advised.)
Ponder…
*1) I agree. Those media photos of Old Years Night revelry do illustrate the rich-poor gap. At the more expensive Night Clubs “revellers” wore clothes, the cost of which could send poor people’s children to school for weeks!
*2) Identify when the USA undermined the PPP. Identify when the Americans assisted the PPP. Then discuss “sovereignty”.
*3) Coming in days: What a shame! A television reality-series to highlight Solid Waste violations. Medical Waste where? Washrooms in eating-places? Dumpsites illegally near to Police Outpost? Stay tuned!
Til next week!
(Comments? allanafenty@yahoo.com)
