Chronicles of a Chronic Caribbean Chronicler
By Earl Bousquet
Every Saint Lucian alive today grew-up with The VOICE, the island’s oldest newspaper by-far, which this year started 141st year as a veritable national institution.
Established in 1885, it’s also the English-speaking Eastern Caribbean’s second-oldest newspaper, after the Jamaica Gleaner established in 1834 — the same year Trans-Atlantic Slavery was officially abolished.
Established by an Irish local entrepreneur, the newspaper largely reflected that of an owner largely interested in shaping public opinion, when necessary, even away from the established English colonial thought-order, he and the newspaper eventually playing an important civic role in the administration of the town of Castries.
Not Only A Newspaper
But The VOICE was not always just a newspaper, as the Publishing Company also had a popular bookshop on Bridge Street, Castries, where everything for reading and writing was available — from stationery to books, newspapers and magazines.
I always had a special interest in the illustrated cartoons and comic books also available there – from the Classics to the World War II comics that only showed British and Americans winning every battle.
Apart from the early Hardy Boys classics and the Mills & Boon series for girls, there were also games for all ages.
My love for reading already strong, I also bought copies of foreign newspapers I could afford from whatever pennies or shillings I was able to squeeze off mum’s grocery money by electing cheaper prices at the supermarket for te grocery list I left home with.
The VOICE was once a daily paper and even at Methodist and RC Boys Primary schools, I would read local, regional and international news about items I heard on the BBC World News every morning on our ye or Grundig radio, also played loud-enough for neighbours to hear.
One of my most remembered readings was a letter from the Captain of the German U-boat that torpedoed two ships (Lady Nelson and Umtata) in the Castries harbour during the war, in which he basically apologized for his action and basically begged for forgiveness.
But as I grew older, I spent more time reading VOICE editorials, then also Crusader newspaper editorials – and never finding the two saying the same about the same thing.
The VOICE would transition to local ownership by Sir Garnet Gordon, eventually succeeded by his son, Michael.
Weather Vanes
In the turbulent 1970s, the VOICE was a bastion of local conservatism and the Crusader the loud voice of radicalism, editorials in the former mainly penned by the brilliant lawyer in Michael and the latter by George Odlum.
Even in my early youth I was able to follow the trends and while supportive of the Crusader’s spin on local issues, I nonetheless followed the VOICE for how ‘the other side’ thought.
The well-written and gladiatorial weekend editorial battles between VOICE and Crusader together offered a rounded view of the main elements of the week’s politics and how the leadership and supporters of the ruling United Workers Party (UWP) and the opposition Saint Lucia Labour Party (SLP) thought on the issues of the day.
For longer than the average reader would have imagined, the two newspapers were the weather vanes for the two major parties contending for power, their wording penned by two men of British intellectual forte, one trained in law, the other in politics and literature, each returning home and both chronicling the politics of the time according to their respective national ambitions.
Legendary
The VOICE is today legendary in Caribbean publishing history, as the Caribbean’s second-oldest newspaper, not just by old-age but through its ability over decades to develop a survival policy tailored to suit the times, over time, through an advertising department that sustains the paper through thick and thin.
The Crusader was never an advertising challenge, but its popular sales on weekends, at its best, outdid the VOICE.
Perhaps the VOICE’s biggest challenge came from within when ‘The Two Guys’ (Guy Mayers and Guy Ellis, General Manager and Editor, respectively) ventured on their own to establish ‘The Mirror’ – the closet to becoming a VOICE rival until it fizzled-out after an uncomfortable period of being unable to settle its debts.
VOICE Editors over the decades included B.H. Easter, Harold Simmons and W. St. Clair Daniel (among others) before Guy Ellis easily became the longest-serving and best-known of them all.
Indeed, the VOICE was so-much associated with Guy Ellis (instead of vice versa) that since his passing, one often hears persons who realize The VOICE lives on saying they didn’t realize it was “still being published after Guy Elis died…”
A Year in the Chair
I served about a year in The Editor’s chair at The VOICE as a paid Consultant, during which I laughed-off the criticism by political friends who somehow felt it wasn’t the right place for me.
But the journalist in me, with over-40 years’ experience, didn’t think t wise to turn-down an invitation to sit in the editor’s chair at the island’s oldest newspaper.
Why Not?
My departure from The VOICE remains mystery to many, but my brief sojourn at the editor’s desk was a very valuable experience that was also much-more than a colourful addition to my already lengthy CV.
There I demonstrated another aspect of my acquired ability to technically and professionally adapt without becoming someone else.
I’d sailed the Seven Seas to the Five Continents before my journey into journalism and my role as a trainer and advocate for journalism and media causes had led to over 70 countries in the four decades before accepting the conveyed invitation in 2018 to serve with the only newspaper I never had.
I’d already had a year-long presence at The Voice through my ‘Chronicles of a Chronic Chronicler’ column that started on weekends and became bi-weekly when it’s scope widened beyond our shores to a regional Chronicles of a Chronic Caribbean Chronicler, that also featured a Chronicles of a Guyana Chronicler (published in the Guyana Chronicle).
I’d already been: Editor of The Crusader and of The Star newspapers here and briefly associated as-well with The Mirror, local correspondent for the Caribbean Contact and for the Nation newspaper in Barbados (and its EC News published for the OECS), for the BBC Caribbean Report and Radio Antilles and hosted ‘Constitution Park’ on Radio Saint Lucia (RSL), while Press secretary to Prime Minister Dr Kenny D. Anthony.
In addition, I’d served between 1980 and 1982 as Chief Reporter at the Free West Indian (FWI) newspaper in Grenada and News Director at Radio Free Grenada (RFG) during the revolution; then, between 1993 and 199 I’d served in Guyana as Editor of The Mirror Newspaper, Chairman of the Board of state-owned Guyana Television Company (GTV) and Director at the Guyana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC) – the lone radio station in 83,000 square miles.
I was a founding member of the Saint Lucia media Workers Association (SLMWA) and of the Caribbean Association of Media Workers (CAMWORK) and was Vice President of the International Organization of Journalists (IOJ) with responsibility for the Caribbean.
I’d also lectured to Haitian journalists (in the Kweyol language) at the Caribbean Institute of Mass Communications (CARIMAC) at the Mona Campus of the university of the West Indies (UWI) in Jamaica, also visiting Haiti to engage with the new reporters under their trying national circumstances.
The SLMWA had also organized a local Media Training Course that saw local experienced persons and professionals train new and budding recruits, leading to the island being the other Caribbean country (apart from Jamaica) with the most passes at CARIMAC’s annual regional media training and development courses, producing many who moved on to top their leagues – to this day — at home and abroad.
I’d been from Australia to Zimbabwe, Antigua to Venezuela, Argentina to Libya, Jordan to Yemen, Brazil to New Zealand – to follow North, East, West and South (NEWS) in pursuit of a profession that knows and has no ends.
So, why should I not have taken an unexpected opportunity to stand at the editorial helm of The VOICE just like Michael Gordon did with three other saint Lucians to sail one of the first Atlantic Rally for Cruisers (ARC) on a legendary sailboat called ‘Breeze Away’?
By then, Sir Michael had followed Sir Garnet and earned his own knighthood and I too had been bestowed with the Saint Lucia Medal of Honour (GOLD) for my first 40 years as a journalist and Caribbean media trainer.
My exit from The VOICE was never what most feel, but I’ve never nursed any regrets having succeeded the likes of Guy Ellis and his successors, among them Matthew Roberts, Victor Marquis and others, in the shadow of legendary friend’ colleague and photographer Mc Neil Jn Marie.
Moving-on
And then there’s Vilan Edwards, the prime mover of everything at the Darling Road, Castries establishment that started in 1953, without whom (it’s understandably widely-held by those who know) nobody and nothing moves.
Sir Michael, schooled in British and UK law and sitting at the top of his family’s judicial and legal outpost located at ‘Number 10’ down one Castries street, continues to be the effective ‘Capo di Tuti Cappi’ at the nation and the region’s longest-lasting newspaper in the OECS and second within CARICOM, which continues to tune with the times and is as online as off in this new age when reading and writing are becoming endangered species and IT, AI and different forms of augmented reality have reduced average attention spans to seconds and a single handful of minutes.
I’ve watched the fellow landed sailor in Sir Michael ride the waves and highways of our mutual calling ashore like I’ve done, in much-similar and very-different ways, today sharing similar views on traditional and modern Caribbean migration and learning from his shining example of how to sit on a throne without wearing a crown.
Michael’s been The Voice’s actual archangel, keeping family tradition going through ever-changing decades, through methodical adaptation to needs and times, in pursuit of the ultimate objective: keeping the doors open at Saint Lucia’s oldest newspaper, which, unlike his grandfather’s clock has remained standing on the floor, but has never stopped clicking after the old man died!
My Second 50…
And yes, like many others before me and those who’ll follow for as long as the old clock ticks, I too can say the following:
‘The Voice’ was one of the illustrious places from whence cometh my voice, which remains loud today even though lessening my pace after my First 50 Years ploughing vineyards everywhere and under all conditions (except war) from April 1, 1976 to April 1, 2026.
And now for my Second 50 – which started at the crease this past Thursday, to be continued as I hasten the pace towards my allocated three-score-and-ten next month…
On Earl Bousquet’s Fifty Years in Journalism
To have reached fifty years in any profession is by itself a notable achievement. But for those fifty years to be characterized by an unwavering commitment to the ideals of the profession, by a constant and disciplined exhibition of these ideals, and by a sustained excellence in the practice of the craft is an incredible and remarkable accomplishment. This is what Earl Bousquet has accomplished as a journalist in the fifty years since he signed his first contract to commence working in that noble field. This is why he is a legend of St. Lucian journalism. Congratulations, Earl on this milestone and for what you have given to us and for what you have done for Journalism in St. Lucia.
Earl Stephen Huntley
Congratulations, Earl, my classmate and friend. 50 years and your pen is still strong as your voice is loud. What’s impressive about Earl is his consistency and his genuine interest and love for his craft, and the unwavering passion for our country and the region. I’ve always intimated that he has the ability to write about any topic with the type of background and knowledge that keeps your eyes glued to the page. Or when to keep listening to his commentaries.
A few years ago, I collaborated with Earl in presenting the George Odlum memorial lecture. His focus was on Odlum’s journalism practice. The manner in which presented the life and contributions of Bro. George was hailed as a master class in journalism and revolution. It was unforgettable. Whatever accolades Earl receives and I’m sure, there will be many, is well deserved
Jerry George
In a region where the newsroom is often a revolving door, Earl Bousquet chose to stay — and in staying, became something rare. Where many often pass through on their way to somewhere else, he planted himself in the soil of Caribbean truth-telling and grew tall there.
Over fifty years, his work has gone far beyond reporting; it reflects a lifelong commitment to identity, memory, and the unfinished conversations that belong to all of us as descendants of enslaved people. He has never treated journalism as neutral territory, but as a space for clarity, conscience, and cultural affirmation — a consistent champion of the people’s right to know, and of the truths that matter most.
That is not a career. That is a testimony.
Barbara Jacobs-Small – Broadcaster/ Trainer, Strategic Communications Specialist
Earl is one of those tireless, some might say peskily persistent, media professionals who have occupied regional journalism with his trademark brand of professional practice. His foundational efforts at organising regional media workers, through CAMWORK, are also indelibly engraved as part of the history of Caribbean media.
Senator Wesley Gibbings: journalist, Media Trainer, Press Freedom Advocate
I am not sure whether I could say anything more on someone who is celebrating, observing his 50th anniversary in journalism…I have had the good fortune of being a long-time associate of Earl, as a member the St Lucia Media Workers Association, the Caribbean Media Workers Association and when he served as the St Lucia correspondent for the now defunct Radio Antilles in Montserrat.
I always admired the way in which he was able to bring his perspective to, not only issues of relevance to St. Lucia, but indeed the wider Caribbean. As he continues to labour in the vineyard of journalism, I am sure he will impart his knowledge to the young and upcoming Media workers in St. Lucia…
Peter Richards, editor in chief. Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC) Barbados.
“This is a phenomenal milestone. Earl Bousquet has been a journalist extraordinaire. He writes with passion, integrity, and compelling logic. Few can command the English language like he does. He understands the heart and soul of Caribbean people. Few, also, can match his knowledge of the political folklore of the region. He has handled his craft with dignity and respect. I particularly remember the days when he served as my Press Secretary. Even when he knew that some in the profession sought to inflict damage on the Government which I led, he was fiercely protective of them.”
Dr. Kenny Anthony – Former St. Lucia Prime Minister
The first and the last of the Mohicans
When I think of Earl Bousquet, the revered Elder of Journalism in the Caribbean, I see a living, breathing, walking encyclopedia, Wikipedia and Generative AI all wrapped into one being.
You ask Earl about any developments within the region and largely globally, you’ll immediately find yourself signed in for a university course and an audio book series on whatever the subject matter was.
Earl has been an authority on currents affairs for generations with very clear thoughts on where we’ve been and where our profession is heading
For me Earl has always been a mentor, available for advice or just a conversation on matters relating to journalism and media in Saint Lucia. He’s always advocating for respect and the rights of journalists all over the world, whether it is in Palestine or Cuba.
Earl was a key pillar in the launch of the Media Workers Association, instrumental in establishing the media awards right here passionately involved in the advancement of the media fraternity across the region.
Earl connects generations of journalists from the George Charles/colonial era when Fountain pens were a prized possession that could ruin your starched white [Earl Huntley signature] shirt jack to the Substack/TikTok/AI driven journalism that takes a split second to produce an in-depth piece on the sex lives of cockroaches!
We must celebrate Earl’s enormous contribution to the transitioning journalism era that we’re currently into the fateful spiral of mis and disinformation, fake news and truths that are anything but!
Earl is a constant reminder that real, authentic and genuine journalism is still alive and, well, within our grasp, if we want it badly.
Few journalists in Saint Lucia or the Caribbean can claim the reach, influence and staying power of Earl Bousquet.
For more than 50 years he has not only reported and analysed current affairs, but he’s helped generations of Saint Lucians understand their country, their region and their place in the world.
Bernard Fanis