PM lauds late journalist as national icon

Port-of-Spain (CMC):

Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar yesterday described the late journalist Keith Smith as an exemplar of hard work, dedication and patriotism.

Smith, who was the Editor-at-Large at the Trinidad Express newspaper, died yesterday after a prolonged battle with prostate cancer. He was 65.

"As an avid reader of his columns, I can say that Keith Smith was more than a journalist; he was a national icon. In the more than 40 years he spent as one of this nation's foremost writers, he stood out as an exemplar of hard work, dedication and patriotism," the prime minister said in a statement.

Persad-Bissessar said that Smith, who spent 45 years with the Trinidad Express, was also an inspiration to young people of the volatile Laventille area, along the east-west corridor, adding he never left his hometown and showed the young people in the area that hard work and perseverance could produce such a powerful public figure.

"He hailed from the era when our national instrument, the steel pan, was one of Laventille's greatest offerings, and throughout his life, his work would reflect the tremendous impact this cultural hub had on his thinking as he remained a consistent and long-standing advocate for local culture," she added.

She said that as an editor, Smith, whose commentaries on social and political issues were a fixture in the newspaper, "ensured that journalism remained free but responsible and that is a legacy which I hope will forever endure."

A number of organisations, including the Media Association of Trinidad and Tobago and the Association of Caribbean Media Workers (ACM), have also paid tribute to Smith.

In 2009, Smith was awarded the Humming Bird Medal Silver, the island's third national award, for his contribution to journalism.