The Gleaner grew me - Hilda Jones of Lumsden, St Ann
Published:Thursday | May 8, 2014 | 12:00 AM
Carl Gilchrist, Gleaner Writer
LUMSDEN, St Ann:
FOR 85-YEAR-OLD Hilda Jones, reading The Gleaner has been a way of life for several decades.
As a child, she would ask her mother to buy The Gleaner so she could read, even on a Saturday when she was out of school and she wanted something to occupy her time.
"And when mi couldn't buy it, me used to go at a place down Lumsden where dem buy it all di time. We and dem were good friends, so me could read from there," Jones told The Gleaner from her home situated in a deep- rural district named Forest, located near Lumsden in St Ann.
"I started reading it in school. I used to borrow our teacher's Gleaner (at Britonville Primary School) and read. That's a long, long time ago."
It was the young reader's main source of news at the time and, given her age (she was born October 23, 1928), it would have been around the time of World War II which was from 1939 to 1945.
"In those days, wi neva know nutt'n bout any radio or TV. I used to have to read to know what going on."
Stories that stuck
She was able to recall a few stories that have stuck in her mind such as an incident in St Andrew where a gardener was charged for killing his employer, one 'Campbell', and his family.
A chirpy elderly lady, Jones still reads The Gleaner today, even without the aid of eyeglasses. Her reading option has been limited to only The Sunday Gleaner.
Her reading tastes has now changed much - she just wants to read to know what's going on in Jamaica.
Jones' love for reading The Gleaner would lead to her becoming a vendor in February 1967. She recounted how it played out.
"Somebody used to sell it and they stopped, and I used to buy from that person and since him stop and I want my Gleaner to read, I said well, I will sell it."
She remains a vendor to this day... .