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Veteran Guyanese journalist succumbs to cancer at 61
One of Guyana’s elders in the field of journalism, Courtney Gibson, lost his battle with cancer late Sunday night at the age of 61 years.
Gibson, a former Editor in Chief of the state owned Guyana Chronicle, died in a hospital in Tampa, Florida, USA where he was admitted for treatment a few days earlier.
Courtney Gibson
Although he was ailing, Gibson’s death sent shockwaves throughout the Caribbean media fraternity, with many of his colleagues paying glowing tributes.
News of his death was circulated through the association of Caribbean media workers president Wesley Gibbings, who noted that Gibson was a longstanding correspondent for what was then the Caribbean News Agency (CANA), now Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC).
“I last came across him several years ago while he served as editor of the Herald of St Maarten,” Gibbings wrote.
Prior to his appointments in the wider Caribbean, Gibson also served as an Information Officer at the Guyana High Commission in London, England.
Another Caribbean media personality Marvin Hokstam wrote, “This is really saddening. I remember Courtney as a very knowledgeable Editor in Chief. I still remember when he arrived in SXM to take up the post at The Herald, and the publisher asked me to collect him from the airport. I knew right from the bat that the guy sitting next to me in the car was a veteran who had seen it all. A good example for the young greenhorn I was back then.
Within short order, he took a grip of the lead of the editorial department and played a huge role in taking the newspaper to its next level. He was a fair manager, who I could still call for li’l advice, even years after I stopped working under him at The Daily Herald.”
“Last week I was talking to an ex-colleague from Dominica, who also worked under Courtney at The Herald. Totally distraught by the news of his illness, she too had stories of what he meant to us young ones and to her personally while she was going through some challenges.
“We heard that he had taken a turn for the worst, and I sort of expected this news, but it still comes as a shock. A great man/journalist/teacher/friend is gone,” Hokstam added.
Kaieteur News’ Leonard Gildarie, who worked in St Maarten for a number of years, upon learning of Gibson’s death stated that the media fraternity in the Region has lost a humble son.
“I met Courtney almost 14 years ago in St Maarten and he always welcomed us into his home. He was willing to lend an ear to the many Guyanese living there.”
Gildarie explained that in addition to being the Chief Editor at the Daily Herald, the island’s largest newspaper, Gibson was a key figure in the advocacy group, the St. Maarten/Guyanese Foundation, and was elected President when it was established in the early 2000’s.
“There are a couple of thousand Guyanese living there who needed renewals with passports and wanted help with immigration issues. The foundation, founded by myself and Gibson and a number of our country folks, were instrumental in bringing awareness to Guyanese. He was an ambassador to Guyana and a proud son of the soil at that. May God rest his soul.” Gibson hails from Adventure on the Essequibo Coast.
It is not yet clear if his body will be brought back home to Guyana for its final resting place.
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