MANCHESTER, Jamaica — South-central Jamaica journalist and Justice of the Peace Glendon Baker has died.

Baker, 68, died at the Mandeville Regional Hospital on Sunday.

He worked across several media entities including Radio Jamaica, the Jamaica Observer, Mandeville Weekly, Northern Caribbean University (NCU) Radio and Television in the roles of a correspondent, host and freelancer.

Garfield Myers, senior journalist and former Editor-at-large at the Jamaica Observer remembered Baker as a passionate journalist who took care of everyone he could assist.

“Glendon was a very nice person…. A very helpful kind of person. He would do whatever he could for others around him and so that is my last memory of him. He was a very talented journalist where he could do just about anything in broadcast. He certainly wrote for the Observer. He assisted me with features and news stories down the years. A very helpful sort of person and a humorous man. He saw the lighter side of life a lot of the times. We will miss him,” Myers said late Monday.

Senior journalist Garfield Angus described Baker as a journalist and entrepreneur who has left an indelible mark in south-central Jamaica.

“His illness slowed him down and it dealt a big blow to media in central Jamaica. Glendon went just about anywhere the news was…. In 2007 I was not mobile and Glendon would ensure that I got where I needed to go. He introduced me to some very important people, so I could stay on top of things that were happening in the parish,” said Angus.

“He was the publisher of the Manchester Clarion and later on he was setting up a cable company which he got me to be a shareholder, but then came the recession in 2008 and because of that the advertising dollar became very thin and that didn’t get off the ground,” added Angus.

The senior journalist described Baker as a “great humanist”.

“He was someone who tried many things. I remember he went into the tyre business and he was also a distributor of [cooking] gas. A lot of what he earned in business he gave it away to people in need. Glendon gave away just about everything. He was also an emcee. He would do it for schools, churches,” said Angus.

He recalled a collaborative effort among journalists during the COVID-19 pandemic in reaching out to Baker.

“In 2022, I and some other media colleague went on a drive to assist him and we wanted to do it again last year in July, then came Hurricane Beryl and we were not able to do it. Just last week I and Byron Buckley were talking about doing it in November,” said Angus.

READ: Veteran journalist sidelined by illness; urges colleagues to take stock

Angus is calling on the Press Association of Jamaica (PAJ) to honour Baker posthumously.

“I do hope that the PAJ will look at the contribution of Glendon Baker and give some recognition to him,” said Angus.

“In 2008, he became the head of the central Jamaica PAJ chapter and I was his deputy, and he did a lot. Glendon made his contribution to media, his community and his country. It is a great loss, but we celebrate him,” added Angus.

Former PAJ President Byron Buckley also recalled Baker’s influence in central Jamaica.

“When I ran as president in 2008… Glendon and I decided to form chapters across the island. Glendon Baker was my chapter chairman for central Jamaica here in Manchester and he helped to pull journalists together in that part of the island,” said Buckley.

“He is one of those voices you hear you in the mornings reporting for a particular radio station, but serving the rural community with that report,” added Buckley, who is also NCU’s director of corporate communications.

“On behalf of the university and the media group we just really express our sadness that he has left us. May his soul rest in peace,” said Buckley.

Dr Wendy Freckleton, former managing director at Mandeville Publishers credited Baker for his contribution to journalism.

“Back in the late 1990s, he worked with us as a reporter and we watched him grow as an entrepreneur forming his own newspaper, the Clarion. Over the years we maintained a very good working relationship as members of the media fraternity. It was Glendon who formed the central Jamaica media association of which we were a part,” she said.

Dr Freckleton’s husband, Anthony Freckleton, who chairs the Manchester Parish Development Committee said Baker focused on community issues.

“Glendon served as the public relations officer for the Manchester Parish Development Committee for a number of years. He assisted us in getting our projects highlighted on a national level on the Rural Roving Report on Radio Jamaica like the citrus plant project, Asia project and the bauxite development issues,” said Anthony Freckleton.

— Kasey Williams