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Barbara Gloudon OD, OJ, IOJ (5 February 1935[1] – 11 May 2022) was a Jamaican journalist, author, playwright and theatre chair. As well as having a distinguished career as a journalist, in which capacity she was honoured with two Seprod Awards from the Press Association of Jamaica and as an officer in the Order of Distinction, Gloudon began working in 1969 as a scriptwriter for Jamaica's Little Theatre Movement (LTM)[2] and also wrote radio drama. She hosted a radio talk show for thirty years and became chair of the LTM. Having received numerous awards and honours, Gloudon was granted the Order of Jamaica in 1992 and became a fellow of the Institute of Jamaica in 2012.

Barbara Gloudon OJ, OD, IOJ
Born	Barbara Joy Goodison (1935-02-05)5 February 1935 Malvern, Saint Elizabeth Parish, Jamaica
Died	11 May 2022(2022-05-11) (aged 87) Kingston, Jamaica
Nationality	Jamaican
Other names	Stella; Kitty Kingston
Occupation	Journalist, playwright, theatre chair
Years active	1953–2022
Known for	Journalism
Spouse	Ancile Gloudon ​ (m. 1960⁠–⁠2022)​
Children	3
Relatives	Lorna Goodison (sister)

Early life

Barbara Joy Goodison was born in Malvern, Saint Elizabeth Parish, Jamaica, to Doris (née Harvey) and Vivian M. Goodison, and was the eldest of nine siblings.[3] Her father worked as a chauffeur and mechanic and Goodison grew up in a middle-class family. One of her sisters, Lorna, became the first female Poet Laureate of Jamaica.[4] Barbara attended St. George's Elementary School and went on to further her education at St Andrew High School for Girls in Kingston, as well as completing an international writing studies program at the University of Iowa. While in high school, she participated in theatrical performances and studied drama with Jean Watson.[5]

Career

In 1953, Goodison began her career at The Gleaner newspaper, working as a reporter,[6] and writing for the paper's social pages under the pseudonym "Kitty Kingston".[7] Simultaneously, she also wrote the column "Stella Seh" at the Jamaica Star,[5] where she used Jamaican patois for the first time in a newspaper.[8] On 23 April 1960, Goodison married the chemist and food technologist Ancile Gloudon, a native of Port of Spain, Trinidad. The couple would subsequently have three children – Lisa, Jason and Anya – and work together to build their first home.[9] She would work as a features editor, editor and reporter at both The Gleaner and The Star until 1978.[5][6] In 1964, the inaugural year of the Seprod Awards for Journalism, and again in 1968, Gloudon won recognition from the Press Association of Jamaica.[10] One of the regular beats she covered was the arts and theatre. Showing a particular talent for reporting on the cast, as well as the event, Gloudon was invited by the government to cover the art revolution in Britain in the 1960s.[11]

Upon her return to Jamaica, after nearly a month in the UK in 1969, Gloudon was invited by Greta Fowler, who with her husband Henry had founded Jamaica's Little Theatre Movement (LTM), to write a script for the annual pantomime production. Since the Americans had just landed a man on the moon, Gloudon wrote Moonshine Anancy. Selected for production, the piece marked a turning point in the LTM productions, as before Moonshine Anancy they were more British than Jamaican.[11] The first entry into the annual invited submission contest was followed by more than 30 scripts submitted for the National Pantomime event.[12][13] She was honoured as an officer in the Order of Distinction in 1975 for her journalistic services.[14]

Leaving journalism in 1978, Gloudon worked until 1981 as the director of the Jamaica Tourist Board and then opened her own public relations firm. From the late 1980s, she hosted a radio talk-show, Hotline, broadcast by Radio Jamaica Rediffusion (RJR 94 FM).[5] The show focused on personal, local, and international problems in a thought-provoking commentary on cultural and social issues and Gloudon broadcast it until 2015.[5][12] In addition to her broadcasting and writing, Gloudon travelled regionally discussing Caribbean themes, and specifically focused on the cultural and socio-economic concerns of women.[15]

In the 1990s, Gloudon became the chair of the LTM and directed the annual Boxing Day debut of the National Pantomime.[16] In 1992, Gloudon was honoured with the Order of Jamaica, which was recognized at the Caribbean Media Awards ceremony hosted by the Caribbean Publishing and Broadcasting Association and Caribbean Broadcasting Union.[17] She was elected as vice-chair of the International Programme for the Development of Communication (IPDC) in 1996 and served in that capacity until 1998, when she was elected IPDC's rapporteur. She was re-elected as rapporteur in 2000.[18]

Gloudon was awarded the 2006 Gleaner Honour for her contributions to art and culture.[13] In 2012, she and Sylvia Wynter were elected as fellows of the Institute of Jamaica, the organization in Jamaica that recognizes people who have distinguished themselves as representatives of the country's culture, history or science.[19] Gloudon was inducted into the Jamaican Press Association Hall of Fame in 2013, continuing to write as a journalist for The Jamaica Observer in addition to her role at the LTM.[5]

Death and legacy

Gloudon died on 11 May 2022 in Kingston, Jamaica, 11 days after the death of her husband Ancile.[20][21] She is remembered for her long-running talk show, Hotline, and other programmes on Radio Jamaica, her work as a playwright, and her production and writing for the Annual Pantomime programme.[22][23]

Selected awards and recognition

• 1975: Officer in the Order of Distinction in 1975 for her journalistic services
• 1992: Order of Jamaica
• 2006: Gleaner Honour Award for her contributions to art and culture
• 2012: Elected a Fellow of the Institute of Jamaica
• 2003: Honorary doctorate from the University of the West Indies[8]
• 2013: Inducted into Jamaican Press Association Hall of Fame
• 2015: Special Lifetime Achievement Award, for her unparalleled service to journalism, Press Association of Jamaica Awards[24]

Scripts

• 1969: Moonshine Anancy[11]
• 1972: Hail Columbus[25]
• 1975: The Witch[25]
• 1978: Johhny Reggae[25]
• 1981: The Pirate Princess[25]
• 1983: Ginneral B[25]
• 1985: Trash[25]
• 1986: River Mumma and the Golden Table, in conjunction with Aston Cooke[25]
• 1989: Schoolers, based on a scene by Owen Ellis and Michael Nicholson[25]
• 1990: Fifty Fifty[25]
• 1990: A Carol for Moneybags", an adaptation of Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol"[26]
• 1991: Man Deh Yah[25]
• 1992: Reggae Son[25]
• 1993: Anansi Come Back[25]
• 1994: Moonsplash[25]
• 1995: Schoolers 2[25]
• 1998: Anansi Web[25]
• 1999: Bugsie the Millennium Bug, in collaboration with Conliffe Wilmot-Simpson[25]
• 2001: Chicken Merry—Hawk Deh Near, in collaboration with the Pantomime Workshop[25]
• 2002: Miss Annie[25]
• 2003: Combolo[25]
• 2004: Iffa Nuh So[25]
• 2005: Zu-zu Macca[25]
• 2006: Howzzat[25]
• 2013: The Golden Macca Fat[27]
• 2014: Princess Boonoonoonoos[28]
• 2015: Runeesha and the Birds[11]
• 2016: The Upsies and Downsies[29]
• 2017: Dapper Dan[30]

Other media

• 1980s: Wrong Move, radio serial drama[5]
• 1991: Stella seh. Kingston, Jamaica: Institute of Jamaica Publications. 1991. ISBN 978-9-768-01713-0.[12]

References

Citations

Bibliography

External links

• Lennox Aldred, "Barbara Gloudon, the name behind pantomime and the carrier of our creative history", Jamaica Gleaner, 4 April 2021.
• Barbara Gloudon at LTM Pantomime.
• "Tributes for Barbara Gloudon, veteran hailed as icon", Jamaica Gleaner, 12 May 2022.
• "10 things to know about Barbara Gloudon", Loop News, 12 May 2022.
• "Barbara Gloudon: 10 things to know about the cultural icon", Jamaica Observer, 12 May 2022.
• "Grange pays tribute to Barbara Gloudon", Jamaica Observer, 12 May 2022.
• Clyde McKenzie, "Memories of Mama G", Jamaica Observer, 29 May 2022.

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