Gloudon celebrated for opening doors for many

Lorna Goodison-Chamberlin will forever cherish the fact that her late sister – the hard-hitting journalist, opinionated radio talk-show host and prolific playwright Barbara Joy Gloudon – served as a gateway to opportunities not only for family members, but the wider nation.

“We all passed through the gateway that was Barbara. Nobody in Jamaica was untouched by the life of this extraordinary woman,” Goodison-Chamberlin said in her tribute at Thursday’s Mass of the resurrection at The Church of St Margaret in St Andrew.

She emphasised how unpredictable life can be, recalling an instance when they were moving as children and Gloudon stopped along the road and pointed out the School for the Blind, as she expressed thoughts on what may have been happening to visually impaired persons. Eventually, she suffered from the same illness in the end.

“This is a particular, harrowing and sad memory for me, because my sister lost much of her eyesight ... .We stood at the gate of the School for the Blind and she explained to me that when people go blind, they’re able to read by something called braille, and she said, ‘It’s as if your eyes are transferred to your fingertips,’” shared Goodison-Chamberlin.

“And she also told me something else. She said – and I don’t know if I fully understood it then, but I have come to understand it so well – she said that when people go blind, sometimes their other senses get heightened, so your sense of hearing is heightened, your sense of touch, your sense of taste. There’s a compensation scheme that kicks in when you lose something like that, and my sister lost … and it was painful to watch the beautiful, gorgeous, energetic Barbara, to just watch the diminishment. But somehow I’m convinced – I know this firstly – that she accessed, in those last days when she was weak, and when the dementia and blindness was taking its toll, I saw her turn towards the source of light … .”

Gloudon’s daughter, Anya Gloudon-Nelson, reiterated her aunt’s recollections of how committed her mother was to her immediate family, and noted her mother’s deep love for Jamaica and its development.

“She never ever gave up on Jamaica, and she would say ‘we’, not ‘unnu’,” Gloudon-Nelson said of the woman whose career in journalism began at The Gleaner, with her first story being about an obeahman in Westmoreland.

Woman of Christ

The Most Reverend Dr Howard Gregory, the officiating clergy of the Mass, drew comparisons between Gloudon, a faithful woman of Christ, and the “nameless Samaritan woman at the well” based on St John’s biblical account.

“Barbara had a passionate interest in the story of the woman at the well and her encounter with Jesus, as recorded by St John ... . She often spoke of a desire to write a dramatic production that would tell that story in ways that would capture some of the depth of truth which the superficial reading and reflection on that story does not fully capture,” Gregory said.

“I’d rather suspect that there is a sisterhood connection which resonated between Barbara and that nameless woman,” he added.

Gregory said the nameless woman seemed to have been conscious of how people perceived her, likewise Gloudon during her twilight years.

Gloudon died at age 87 on May 11, less than a fortnight after her husband, Ancile, a noted horticulturalist and food technologist, passed away.

Barbara Gloudon (née Goodison) was born in Malvern, St Elizabeth, but mostly grew up in Kingston, as the family relocated to the capital city early in her life.

She attended St George’s Infant and Primary School before moving on to St Andrew High School, after which she entered the field of journalism at The Gleaner.

In the early 1980s, she ventured into broadcasting as host of Radio Jamaica’s popular talk show, ‘Hotline’, attracting a huge following with her folksy delivery and wit, coupled with the empathy she exuded in her interaction with listeners.

She also presented the weekly Anglican radio show, ‘Think on These Things’, on Radio Jamaica for many years.

Outside of journalism, she was an accomplished playwright, and eventually became the chief writer and producer for the annual pantomime. She also wrote radio plays, the most successful of which was the long-running Wrong Move, which aired on Radio Jamaica.

The woman of many hats had also served as deputy director of tourism for a period in the 1970s.

ainsworth.morris@gleanerjm.com