The Gleaner Grew Me: Gloria Burton of Islington, St Mary

Orantes Moore, Gleaner Writer

ISLINGTON, St Mary:

AS A child growing up in the rural district of Islington, St Mary, Gloria Burton read The Gleaner to learn about new people and places, and remembers how the newspaper became an essential source for news about her home country when she immigrated to England in the late 1950s.

Burton, 75, said: "From as far back as I can remember, we've always bought The Gleaner, especially on Sundays. I was brought up with my godparents, and my godfather was a big fan. Other people in the house would look at it occasionally, but I used to read it regularly because I liked the comics.

"The earliest story I remember reading about was the legendary criminal Rhyging, when the police were looking for him for the murders he had committed. That was so sensational because you didn't have a lot of murders in those days. Everybody was excited about that story and wanted to know about this man who had killed all these people. I was about 12 or 13 years old at the time."

At age 18, Burton moved to Manchester in England and returned to Jamaica 40 years later, after becoming a general, psychiatric and community nurse.

STAYING IN THE KNOW

"We used to buy The Gleaner in England because we wanted to find out what was going on here. It wasn't available when I first arrived and didn't come until sometime in the early or mid-1960s."

Since returning to the parish where she was born, Burton has remained an avid Gleaner reader and enjoys the wide variety of topics covered in the paper.

She said: "I've been back 13 years now and I still buy it. I get it delivered every day because it gives you a good mix of information. I know there are other papers, but I wouldn't swap them for The Gleaner because it's something I've grown up with."