Broadcaster and educator, Franklin Langhorne, is a ‘Special Person’

Jan 11, 2015 News

---

“I knew I had a good voice, and I knew that broadcasting would fit my introverted personality.”

 

By Leon Suseran

He is no stranger to the airwaves. His voice is instantly recognizable. Perhaps it is one of the more recognized voices on radio, especially at nights. A man who says he feels very down if days would pass and he does not have a microphone in front of him; a man who admits he is an introvert, but whose desire it is to be behind microphone and have no one there looking at him, when in reality, he is speaking to a worldwide audience.

This week, we feature a dedicated broadcaster as well as educator, whose work (and music) has touched the hearts and souls of many. With his teaching, he has instilled a valuable education while with his voice, he has inspired hope to his devoted listeners.

Franklin Langhorne is a humble man. He inconspicuously attends the night-shift at the National Communications Network Inc (NCN), yet makes an amazing difference with the songs he renders on the air during his signature programme which many Guyanese are familiar with, ‘The Triple M Show’.

His broadcasting career was preceded by his teaching pursuit, having been a teacher from the tender age of 17. His love for English Language has seen him instilling language and communication skills to the various students whom he taught over the years.

THE EARLY YEARS

He was born at Bee Hive, East Coast Demerara. He recounted that he grew up among East Indian villagers, since the Langhornes at the time were the only Black family there. All of his friends were Indian.

He attended school in Ann’s Grove, located in the adjoining village. Langhorne related there came a time during the infamous race riots when all persons of African descent had to move out of Indian areas and vice-versa. The family then exchanged houses with an Indian family living in Ann’s Grove. He recalled deeply missing his friends in Bee Hive.

He then started to attend Tutorial High School. He enjoyed those days. “I was always introverted as a person, so I always did my work and allowed others to do their work,” he reflected.

At the age of 17, Langhorne fulfilled an innate desire to teach. His first job was at Ascension Lutheran as a Pupil Teacher. The first day, he stated, was tough, since many of the students were very close to his age, but he gradually grooved into the work.

FUN TIMES AT COLLEGE

Two years later in 1967, Langhorne enrolled at the Teachers’ Training College in his quest to become a qualified and trained teacher. He was insistent on mentioning the fun times he spent at the College, especially meeting Mr. Adam Harris, this newspaper’s current Editor-in-Chief.

“I remember Adam—he was the joker of the College—he made all the jokes—he would go on stage with a wig and he would be the College clown, but everybody really loved him, because he was bright and he had a good heart.”

Langhorne then continued teaching at Plaisance after his College Graduation in 1969 and returned to Ann’s Grove to work at the Primary school in the village. He was later transferred as Head of English Department of Ann’s Grove Community High. While that was happening, Langhorne was becoming a “very serious Christian.” He got married to his sweetheart Carol and started to attend the University of Guyana (UG) from 1980 where he pursued a Bachelor of Education Degree. His major was English Language.

TEACHING

Langhorne’s memories of teaching hinge largely on the persons whom he taught through the years, including (now doctor) Mahendra Carpen; Keshnan Lall; Malcolm Ferreira; “and a couple of lawyers…but I remember those people and remember telling them at President’s College, ‘Now you’re just 14 and 15, but there’s going to come a time, when you will become our bosses—the child is always the father of the man’”. He also taught two prize winners of Literature in Guyana, Ruel Johnson and Cassia Alphonso, at President’s College.

A good teacher, he said, is a caring person, and one who is not only interested in the academics. “And his greatest moment is when that child learns and years later, when that child comes up and says he doesn’t remember the Social Studies, History and English—but remembers the time when you gave him some useful advice.”

BROADCASTING

In 1985 after graduating, Langhorne then entered the field of broadcasting.

He alluded to his love for broadcasting as having come from being a keen listener to broadcasting legends such as Ron Robinson and Matthew Alleyne among others. He listened frequently to ‘Star time’, ‘Good Morning Guyana Show’, ‘Ron’s Rendezvous’, etc.

“I knew I had a good voice, and I knew that broadcasting would fit my introverted personality, because I need to put on a microphone and I don’t need to see anybody.” He auditioned for a job in broadcasting at the then Guyana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC) High Street, Georgetown location. Over 80 persons tried out for the job, and he was chosen along with a female.

He spent the first few months on probation with radio legend, Rosemarie Benjamin. He played advertisements for about four weeks, before being allowed to say, “This is the Voice of Guyana.” He was also trained by Roger Moore and Phyllis Jackson. Two months later, he began to read death announcements and hosted ‘Nightride’, a late-night programme. Langhorne’s first programme that he exclusively hosted was ‘Best By Request’, while filling in for Pancho Carew, who had proceeded on leave at the time.

He also hosted programmes such as ‘Plain Talk’ and other assignments on the night shift since it was widely acknowledged that Langhorne possessed a skill in pronouncing names—especially East Indian—very well on the death announcements. He learnt that skill in Ann’s Grove School.

“You have to know to say ‘Sheilawattie’ or ‘Karamlall’, and not everybody could do that and people were always quarrelling when their names were not called correctly.”

In 1992, Langhorne took a break from broadcasting by migrating to St Lucia to teach at St. Mary’s College. He also taught Language & Communication at the Sir Arthur Lewis ‘A’- Level College in St. Lucia.

It should also be noted that Langhorne is a writer, having written a number of children and adult short stories.

Two years later, he commenced teaching English in the Netherlands Antilles. During that time, he was also marking CXC exam papers.

THE TRIPLE-M SHOW

In 2001, he returned to Guyana. The ingrained educator in Langhorne propelled him to continue serving the education system, so he then taught Communications at School of the Nations and at Critchlow Labour College. He also resumed working at the radio station, where he hosted programmes such as ‘Doctor on Call’, and he later introduced his brainchild — a show that would become synonymous through the years with the name Franklin Langhorne – ‘The Triple-M Show.’

In his quest to develop the concept of a new and unique radio late-night show, Langhorne spoke with then person in charge of GBC, Fazil Azeez, and expressed his desire to have a show that “plays the music, which should trigger a memory and then a sort of magic happens as you relive the memory.”

The show was called ‘The Music, the Magic, the Memory’, (hence the ‘Triple- M Show’). Langhorne, since then, has been coming into homes, playing old music and keeping the late-night listeners company in their beds, living rooms, vehicles, hammocks—wherever! He says that his aim on the programme is connecting the old songs to experiences the older folks would have had during their younger days.

“You have to know the song and be creative enough to do your illustration, so your last words (commentary) connect with the beginning of the song, and by and large, I get it right many times.”

A good broadcaster, he said, is a person who tries to imagine his listener in a particular locality, and tries to talk to that listener as if he (the listener) is the only person in the world. That concept was instilled in his mind by Noel Adams.

“He said ‘always remember that your listener is some girl or boy or man or woman…some junkie or Rasta, who may be having a situation—talk now and imagine you are talking to that person,’” he recalled. “This brings a connection between broadcaster and listener.”

AVID CHURCH-GOER AND FAMILY MAN

It should be noted too that Langhorne is an avid church-goer. His wife, Carol, is the Pastor of the Disciple Church, which holds services at the Ocean View International Hotel. Langhorne is also a very good guitarist.

When asked if he was satisfied with all that he has done and accomplished in life to this point, he said that while there are feelings of satisfaction, there are still a few things he would like to do.

“I have to write a book, I think, because I think I’m a good writer, and I have to do some things for my children.” The father of six is deeply desirous of seeing his children acquire their Degrees at university.

His pride and joy are: Carolyn, Gee-Gee, Oneika, Andrea and his sons, Franklin, Jr. and Ekwensi and an 8-year-old grandson, Uriel, as well as a one-month-old granddaughter, Radiance.

“Everybody makes mistakes, but once you’re alive, there’s a chance for you to deal with that mistake,” he added. None of us is rich enough to buy back yesterday, but every today becomes tomorrow’s yesterday and we must make our todays so beautiful that our tomorrows would spout no tears.”

Those words, he stated, have encouraged his listeners on air for years. Generally, he added, if one falls down in life, get up.

Further, he added that “If you’re alive, you can move from where you are forward; try not to stay in the same place—if you crawl, you can eventually get to the place you want to get.”

Our ‘Special Person’ has a busy schedule during his day, which begins at 04:00 hrs. He teaches a class from 06:00 hrs- 08:00 hrs at Critchlow Labour College. Between 08:00 hrs and 15:00 hrs, he does any required business and relaxes. Between 15:00 hrs and 19:00 hrs, he teaches a class at Bel Air. And from 20:00 hrs to midnight, he hosts late-night radio… and it happens all over again the next day.

He also teaches at Morgan’s Learning Centre. “I work very hard—but if I don’t work hard, I will die very quickly, and I don’t want to die very quickly, because like I said, there’s a lot I have to do,” he added. When he’s not working so hard, Langhorne reads and plays the guitar.

Carpenters need hammers, nails, saws, etc; while doctors need stethoscopes; tailors use scissors, measuring tapes and such like, but all our ‘Special Person’ needs to get through his life, he insists, is simply a microphone. “I have to get a microphone in front of me and I have to say, ‘This is the Voice of Guyana’…but I don’t need a crowd.”

Langhorne was honoured in May 2014 by the Rose Hall Town Youth & Sports Club for his sterling contribution to Broadcasting. His accolades did not end there. He also won First places in 1981 and 1985 in the Guyana Chronicle Christmas Annual. He has also been an Assistant CXC Examiner for over 15 years and taught Communication to several TV personalities at Critchlow Labour College.

---

---