WITHIN THREE months, starting last December 11, three Caribbean Community countries have suffered the loss of a trio of most outstanding journalists—two of them cancer victims and one from a heart attack.
First was the passing in December of Jamaica’s John Maxwell, a seasoned veteran in valid crusading broadcast and print journalism that had made him a thorn in the side of governments, private sector interests and social organizations, with his fierce championing of the rights of the poor and powerless.
John was 76 when he finally succumbed at home to his battle with cancer, leaving a nation—across political boundaries and of all social classes—to mourn his passing.
Then followed on February 8, the passing of another iconic member of the region’s journalism profession, Trinidad and Tobago’s Keith Smith. He had long distinguished himself in print journalism with his unique writing style as a leading columnist of the Trinidad Express of which he was its indefatigable Editor-at-Large.
Keith was widely admired, beyond the established media fraternity, for his knowledge of and association with those in the fields of art and culture, as well as for his known commitment to justice and fundamental rights—issues that kept surfacing in his column.
He died at home from his long bout with cancer at 76, leaving, like Maxwell before him, a nation to mourn his absence, across the political and cultural divide.
Then last Tuesday I received a telephone call from a media colleague in Georgetown, to be informed of the sudden passing of Sharief Khan from a massive heart attack at home.
One of the best known of dedicated and courageous journalists in Guyana, Sharief was 59 when death resulted from the heart disease he had battled against for many years.
A former long-serving Editor-in-Chief of the Guyana Chronicle newspapers, during which he had mentored a corps of young journalists, Sharief’s passing stirred passionate responses at various levels.
Not unexpectedly, however, given the lingering  ailment of Guyana’s political culture—quite unlike what prevails, warts and all, in Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago—there was not the level of warm tributes that earlier flowed, across political and cultural boundaries, for both John Maxwell and Keith Smith.
Truth is, there were differences in ideological and cultural perspectives among this trio of journalists in approaches to their work.
As one who had the privilege of working with them— in varying capacities and at different periods—I well recall the differences that had characterized the work of John Maxwell, Keith Smith and Sharief Khan, as they sought to give effect to their social responsibility as journalists of the Caribbean region.
It is, therefore, by no means  a cliché to note that the passing of this journalist trio will long be remembered  by those who have been familiar with the contributions they separately made to the region’s journalism profession in helping to cultivate a culture of informed public opinion.