Veteran journalist Freddie Smith, who died November 27, 2016 aged 78, was eulogised as a one-of-a-kind newsman who did not depend on press releases and press conferences. His contemporary, Clarence “Ben” Brodie, gave the eulogy at the funeral service for Smith on December 15, 2016 at the Church of the Good Shepherd, Constant Spring in St Andrew. Following is Brodie’s moving tribute to a departed colleague and friend:

Freddie Smith was one of those one-of-a-kind human beings. When I joined the staff at The Gleaner sports desk in 1963 he had already established himself as a cricket specialist under the wings of the great Jack Anderson. After all, he had played sunlight cricket for Beckford and Smith (St Jago and came to The Gleaner fresh from his high school cricketing exploits.

Not only did he bring his personal knowledge of the game to The Gleaner, but also Freddie was a perfect example of what it meant to cover a beat. Freddie was not a desk reporter depending on press releases and press conferences. As the late Terry Smith would say, he worked in the trenches- among the people. That is where the news was and still is.

The result was that he would, on a daily basis, visit the popular cricketing clubs — Lucas, Kensington, Boys’ Town; St Catherine; Melbourne; Kingston — where players past and present would gather for practice or just to socialise.

He would also visit the popular watering holes like Sportsman Inn, Cutty’s Trade Winds and Moby Dick, for there, too, one could find cricket administrators and former players like J K Holt and discuss the latest development in the game. This interaction would result in his many scoops and other graphic pieces.

But being a cricket expert did not preclude work in other areas of sports. As a sports reporter at The Gleaner then, you would be called on to cover any sport, from skeet shooting and squash to boxing and athletics. You had to be an all-rounder, and as the late Raymond Sharpe liked to say, “ If you are a good sports reporter, you can cover anything”.

Freddie covered just about all sports, and I had the privilege of experiencing his diversity and professionalism when I worked with him covering the Commonwealth Games at the National Stadium in 1966. It was hard, hard work.

Some of the contests, like fencing, started late in the evening and went on to the wee hours of the morning. We had to be there. And when it was all over, at whatever time, we had to be back at Harbour Street preparing our story for The Gleaner or the Star.

But we enjoyed it. We felt good about being a part of a team that served in this way. We were proud to be journalists, ports journalists.

In 1969, the Gleaner moved from Harbour Street to North Street. Freddie and I were among the staffers who physically helped to move the sports desk. But the move signaled another phase in Freddie’s life. He was just not prepared to cross the digital divide and so it was not surprising when in the early 1970s when computerisation stepped in, he opted for separation and stepped out.

We maintained contact, but naturally, never saw each other as often. Then in the 1990s, I encouraged Freddie to take up his pen again and he accepted my invitation to do commentary on all forms of sport on The Freddie Smith Page in the community newspaper — The Boulevard News, now The News. He finally put down the pen in the early 2000s, but he remained to the fraternity and his community — Duhaney Park — Freddie, the cricket expert. Hardly a day would pass that someone would not seek information from his vast reservoir of cricketing knowledge. He retained that knowledge to the end.

Appreciation for the quality of his contribution to the profession came from the Press Association of Jamaica in 2003 when he was one of the three veterans honoured at the Veteran’s Luncheon where he was described by then president, Desmond Richards, as a “warrior in journalism who set the pace for many of us”.

I know I speak on behalf of the entire profession, especially those of us who worked with him at The Gleaner, when I say we will miss his wit, his smile, his skill, his humility and his humanity. Freddie has not only played a stalwart and important inning, but he has rolled a pitch that continues to favour honest commitment to the profession, and a love for detail and accuracy.

It is my hope that young journalists, not just sports journalists, will learn from his life as a professional journalist.

Condolences to his family, especially his sister Gloria, and to his many friends. May his soul rest in peace.