Former Sports Editor of the Guyana Chronicle, Norman Brent Chapman, died in New York at the age of 74 following a prolonged illness.
Born June 8, 1949, Brent Chapman, as he is popularly known, passed away last Monday, December 26 — Boxing Day.
He entered the field of journalism in 1975 as a general news reporter attached to the Guyana Graphic and stayed on when the Guyana Graphic merged with the Chronicle.
He later joined the Guyana Broadcasting Service (GBS) where he rose to the position of Sports Producer.
In 1982, he returned to the Guyana Chronicle as Senior Sportswriter and later, Sports Editor.
The former sportscaster at one time hosted a groundbreaking radio series featuring outstanding Guyanese sportspersons on Radio Demerara and was known for his forthrightness in his popular column “On The Ball” in the Guyana Chronicle.
He covered several international sporting events at home and abroad for radio and newspapers, notably the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics and the 1985 International Boxing Federation (IBF) world title fight in Atlantic City, New Jersey, between Guyana’s Terrence Alli and IBF lightweight champion Harry Arroyo. Chapman also served as sports correspondent for the Caribbean News Agency (CANA) and Radio Antilles.
Migrating to the United States in the late 1980’s, he pivoted and carved out a successful career as an editor in New York publishing and advertising departments.
Chapman is survived by a daughter and large extended family.
His brother, Joe Chapman, is also a career journalist who has also written sports articles for the Guyana Chronicle.
He will be cremated and his ashes returned to Guyana.
