Remembering OFC

What I remember about Mr Clarke is how much he pushed you to something better, even when you thought you had done great work. One question from him and whole new perspectives would open up.

I?m a stickler for making sure that everything is right, down to the last comma, because, from my early days at The Gleaner some of my work would end up on Mr Clarke?s desk. He had an uncanny sense of picking up the things that didn?t fit immediately. Everything had to be in place and whatever you presented to him must be solid. Whatever you thought you had done, just one conversation with him, or email from him, and you would be on your way to something so much better.

I remember the questions about Honour Awards each year. He set the tone for the efficiency of the function (citing that we must respect our guests? time); for the creativity involved in each execution (what are we going to do differently this year?); and for the growth in the programme (introducing Man of the Year and Category Awards, and the on-stage interview of award recipients (we were the first local major awards programme to do this, and then it became the standard).

The same applied to the other events/projects on which I worked with him. He was always pulling you towards perfection. He didn?t believe in paradigms, he believed in pushing the envelope to make things better, which, in turn, made you a better thinker and practitioner in the process. I remember presenting a proposal to him one day for review and discussion; and when he read it and said it was good (and that was his only comment) I nearly fell out of my chair!

Mr Clarke had the sharpest wit. I always looked forward to the events, AGMs, and other sessions in which he would play a role. It was guaranteed that he would have you rolling on the ground laughing in short order. He was a great emcee and host (especially if you don?t mind an emcee who deliberately goes off script just to ensure that his audience had a good time). His philosophy on events was that the planning had to be perfect, but then his guests must have a good time on the day (even if you had to mess with the carefully laid out plans a little bit).

He never stood on ceremony, he was relaxed, which made the people around him relax. I remember my shock at discovering my chairman sitting on the kerb wall inside the Pegasus during one of the first events I planned at The Gleaner. A newbie to the business at my first corporate event, I was thinking, ?Surely, this is not the posture of a chairman.? I didn?t know then that irrespective of any titles that he may have, he was always just Oliver Clarke and was always true to his authentic self.

Some of the things he did may never be published ? his mentorship of students each year, his work with the church, and the many persons who will tell you that Mr Clarke reached out to them to help them in some way just because he saw the need.

I learned a lot from working with him.

May his soul rest in peace and light perpetual shine upon him.

Terry-Anne Wilson

Corporate Affairs and Sponsorship Manager

The Gleaner Company (Media) Limited