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Requiem to John William Maxwell
Monday, December 13, 2010
Mr John Maxwell was not a perfect human being nor was he a perfect journalist.
But in terms of the modern Jamaican landscape, he perhaps best embodied that blurry concept of the complete, champion journalist.
The sheer breadth and scope of his work gave him iconic status. Yet, to truly measure his impact we must go beyond that. Whether as broadcaster or writer what separated Mr Maxwell from many others was his passion and strength of conviction and the courage to impart such to all who would listen or read, regardless of the potential consequences.
Yet, in the effort to hail the almost missionary zeal with which he took on issues of the day during his more than 50 years as a professional journalist, we run the risk of ignoring his technical competence.
His harsh, raspy voice fogged by countless cigarettes may not have been ideal for the airwaves. But his intellect, aggressive curiosity and unrepentant advocacy of the poor and oppressed made his Public Eye talk show on JBC radio a "must listen" for Jamaicans in the 1970s.
As a writer he was exceptional. He cultivated a trenchant, athletic style that conveyed colourful detail without being wasteful or extravagant.
Mr Maxwell was born and grew up at a time of great turbulence and change in Jamaica's political and social life. The push for independence of the Jamaican nation from the colonial master, the rapid growth of the two major political parties and the labour unions would have had a profound impact.
Born, as he was, in the house once occupied by the legendary Baptist missionary William Knibb, to a father who was a preacher and politician and in a family of politicians, Mr Maxwell was perhaps better able than most to shake the embedded prejudices of a colonial education.
It also ensured that he became not only a journalist with a "biting pen" as described in the Saturday Observer but the 'political animal' who took on the unassailable Mr Edward Seaga in West Kingston in 1972 on behalf of the People's National Party (PNP).
His great courage showed through in the relentless way with which he pursued issues, popular or unpopular, once he was convinced of his own correctness, sparing not even his own media colleagues.
Socialist in his world view, he openly admired National Hero Norman Manley and his son Michael. But even they were not spared his wrath once he felt they had erred. He may have been instinctively aligned to the PNP but Mr Maxwell's consistently harsh criticism of Mr Michael Manley's successor Mr PJ Patterson rivaled that meted out to political nemesis Mr Seaga.
A die-hard environmentalist, Mr Maxwell cared not for the toes he stepped on as he took on numerous issues related to the protection of Jamaica's natural habitats.
He lashed out at corruption and inefficiency in governance and the self-serving posture of some in the private sector but the range of his vision also took him overseas.
He kept the plight of Haiti central in the minds of his readers. And at a time when many in his position thought twice about offending the powerful western establishment, Mr Maxwell vigorously defended the Cuban Revolution and stridently advocated the rights of the Palestinian people.
Yet, it is to our human shame that a man like that was never paid. Is the lesson that the gladiator-journalist is to be admired but not rewarded? So we'll never have the vital literary works that a sabbatical would have afforded him.
We'll miss you, John William Maxwell.
Read more: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/edito...#ixzz17zrlDYFl
Monday, December 13, 2010
Mr John Maxwell was not a perfect human being nor was he a perfect journalist.
But in terms of the modern Jamaican landscape, he perhaps best embodied that blurry concept of the complete, champion journalist.
The sheer breadth and scope of his work gave him iconic status. Yet, to truly measure his impact we must go beyond that. Whether as broadcaster or writer what separated Mr Maxwell from many others was his passion and strength of conviction and the courage to impart such to all who would listen or read, regardless of the potential consequences.
Yet, in the effort to hail the almost missionary zeal with which he took on issues of the day during his more than 50 years as a professional journalist, we run the risk of ignoring his technical competence.
His harsh, raspy voice fogged by countless cigarettes may not have been ideal for the airwaves. But his intellect, aggressive curiosity and unrepentant advocacy of the poor and oppressed made his Public Eye talk show on JBC radio a "must listen" for Jamaicans in the 1970s.
As a writer he was exceptional. He cultivated a trenchant, athletic style that conveyed colourful detail without being wasteful or extravagant.
Mr Maxwell was born and grew up at a time of great turbulence and change in Jamaica's political and social life. The push for independence of the Jamaican nation from the colonial master, the rapid growth of the two major political parties and the labour unions would have had a profound impact.
Born, as he was, in the house once occupied by the legendary Baptist missionary William Knibb, to a father who was a preacher and politician and in a family of politicians, Mr Maxwell was perhaps better able than most to shake the embedded prejudices of a colonial education.
It also ensured that he became not only a journalist with a "biting pen" as described in the Saturday Observer but the 'political animal' who took on the unassailable Mr Edward Seaga in West Kingston in 1972 on behalf of the People's National Party (PNP).
His great courage showed through in the relentless way with which he pursued issues, popular or unpopular, once he was convinced of his own correctness, sparing not even his own media colleagues.
Socialist in his world view, he openly admired National Hero Norman Manley and his son Michael. But even they were not spared his wrath once he felt they had erred. He may have been instinctively aligned to the PNP but Mr Maxwell's consistently harsh criticism of Mr Michael Manley's successor Mr PJ Patterson rivaled that meted out to political nemesis Mr Seaga.
A die-hard environmentalist, Mr Maxwell cared not for the toes he stepped on as he took on numerous issues related to the protection of Jamaica's natural habitats.
He lashed out at corruption and inefficiency in governance and the self-serving posture of some in the private sector but the range of his vision also took him overseas.
He kept the plight of Haiti central in the minds of his readers. And at a time when many in his position thought twice about offending the powerful western establishment, Mr Maxwell vigorously defended the Cuban Revolution and stridently advocated the rights of the Palestinian people.
Yet, it is to our human shame that a man like that was never paid. Is the lesson that the gladiator-journalist is to be admired but not rewarded? So we'll never have the vital literary works that a sabbatical would have afforded him.
We'll miss you, John William Maxwell.
Read more: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/edito...#ixzz17zrlDYFl