THE news that Bob Marley had died hit everyone in the newsroom at the Jamaica Daily News like a Mike Tyson uppercut.

May 11, 1981 was now recorded in history as one of the saddest in Jamaica and the world.

There was a flurry of activity in the newsroom as we went about preparing the next day’s edition that would report the passing of the reggae icon and any associated stories that we could source.

There was no Internet at the time, and cellular technology wasn’t even a thought. Therefore, the experienced scribes had to depend on analogue phone service to gather information from people here and in Florida where “The Gong” had died.

Compared to The Gleaner newsroom, the space in which journalists worked at the Jamaica Daily News was fairly small, making it easy to engage in conversation across the floor without having to leave one’s desk.

The Daily News was blessed with some of the best practitioners of the craft — Carl Wint, Ben Brodie, Terry Smith, Mike Jarrett, Curtis Myrie, Bunny Green, Glen McFarlane, Sandy McIntosh, Jennifer Ffrench, Barbara Nelson, Norma Royes, Hubert Gray, Tony Becca, Thorold DeMercado and Barry “Mannix” Hendricks, to name just a few.

A spirited discussion started about the front page — what should be the headline and the image or images that should be used.

“The Gong is silent”, was one suggestion; “Bob Marley dies” was another, but that was quickly abandoned, given that the news was already on radio and would have been the lead story on television that night.

There was a long list of headline suggestions, some of which indicated the pain we were feeling, as there was deep affection for Bob in that company. In fact, any sound system operator who played at a Daily News party would learn pretty early in the proceedings that his job would not be complete without providing us with Marley’s music.

As the proposed headlines came fast and were dispatched with equal speed, Ben Brodie’s voice rose above the din: “I have the headline.”

We looked over to him as he rose from his chair, index finger raised, his bearded face under his signature beret, brightened by a smile — “Exodus,” he declared, a note of finality in his tone.

“Yes, to rahtid!” the newsroom erupted in agreement.

Using the title of Marley’s album released in the summer of 1977 made sense, especially given the first line of the title track: “ Exodus, movement of Jah people.”

DeMercado, at the time a member of the Rastafarian faith, came up with the idea of using the font on the album cover as the headline. He went home, got his copy of the album and brought it back to the newspaper where the production team shot it.

The result was a most memorable May 12, 1981 front page with a photo of a shirtless and pensive Bob bordered by Rastafari’s signature colours — red, green and gold.

The paper, of course, sold out in no time and, if my memory serves me right, I believe we had to reprint to meet demand.

A few days later, as Brodie reminded me this week, the Jamaica Daily News produced a supplement on Marley which, too, was well-received by readers.