Throughout their 49-year friendship, Barbara Gayle and Wyvolyn Gager shared many heartfelt discussions. The last of those, about “some unpleasant happenings”, took place recently.

Gayle dished out some tough love advice.

“She said to me, ‘Listen man, Jesus alone can’t bear the cross, we have to bear some burden too.’ I will always remember that admonition,” Gager, former editor-in-chief at
The Gleaner, told the Jamaica Observer.

Their last contact was via WhatsApp on Monday, the day Gayle was murdered at her home in Caymanas Estates, St Catherine.

“It said simply, ‘just checking in’. We checked on each other often,” said a crestfallen Gager.

They met at the Gleaner Company in 1975. Gager joined the staff that year, while Gayle was establishing herself as a court reporter, a post she held for more than 50 years.

During that time Gayle covered some of the biggest cases in Jamaica, earning the nickname ‘Justice’ among fellow journalists. Her bond with Gager went beyond the newsroom.

“We were not only work colleagues but celebrated life events — birthdays, weddings, outings, other milestones. I was godmother to her daughter Alison. We kept each other abreast of new developments in our respective lives,” Gager disclosed. “In September she attended my birthday celebrations and made some flattering remarks which I am now playing over and over in my mind.”

In November, Gager attended the Press Association of Jamaica’s veteran’s luncheon at the Jamaica Pegasus in New Kingston at which Gayle was one of five journalists honoured for her contribution to the profession.

When Gager became The Gleaner’s first female editor in 1995 she wanted to change the way news was reported out of the courts. She pitched her ideas to Gayle.

“Barbara did not like change. She was content where she landed and embraced her way of life. She was always going to be a court reporter, so as I took on new, more responsible roles at The Gleaner we talked about how she could enhance her own contributions to the paper. She knew everything about the court system, she knew what made it tick, and all the key players, so we discussed ways of improving coverage, not just reporting on court cases,” Gager recalled.

That new course met resistance from major players in the legal system, some of whom likened Gayle to a spy. Gager credits the aggressive approach for transforming her friend’s career from journeyman journalist to newsbreaker.

Gager described Gayle’s tragic death as a “body blow” to journalism and Jamaica’s justice system.

“If ever, there is a lawyer who had no law degree, it was Barbara Gayle. She covered her beat thoroughly and Jamaica was better for it,” she said.