Managing Director of News Newspaper Shelley Clarke passes

Managing director and editor of the News Newspaper, Shelley Clarke, who died last Friday, December 13, 2024, has been described as a consummate professional by several of his former colleagues, workmates, and family members.

Clarke, 75, passed away at the Milton Cato Memorial Hospital (MCMH) around 6 a.m. last Friday, from a heart attack. The journalist had been living with a heart condition for some time.

On Wednesday, Shelley’s wife, Rosemarie, said her husband was “one in a million” who had a great relationship with their daughter, Cheyenne.

“He was the best father you could find, and the relationship between him and his daughter was very close.

“I can’t find the words to to describe him. He was a serious professional who did his job passionately,” Rosemarie told SEARCHLIGHT.

Over the years, Clarke, a former employee of Radio St Vincent and the Grenadines (RSVG), and later, the National Broadcasting Corporation (NBC), was known for his outspoken nature that at times manifested itself in his editorials and his take on politics in St Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG).

He was a sharp critic of the Unity Labour Party (ULP) and its leader, Dr. Ralph Gonsalves.

“Shelly Clarke was the consummate professional. I was fortunate to have him as a central part of my own professional development,” independent media, communications and knowledge management practitioner, Theresa Daniel commented on Wednesday.

Clarke, along with his former radio colleagues, Colin Williams and Bernard Joseph, founded The News 35 years ago. During his years at RSVG, also referred to as Radio 705, Clarke helped train, and worked with some of

the nation’s top media people.

Daniel said Clarke was the person who trained her when she started in the field of broadcasting “many” years ago.

“l often credit him with being the one most responsible for my own growth and success in the field. I was privileged to work with him as my trainer, as a colleague and later, as my boss when l served as Editor of The News Newspaper where he was the Managing Director at the time.

“I remain grateful for his impact and contribution to my personal development in the media and communication landscape,” Daniel told SEARCHLIGHT.

Jacqueline “Jackie” Kydd was hired by Clarke at The News in 1990, one year after the paper began publication. She worked with Clarke up to his passing – some 34 years.

“He is an easy-going person, a person you could talk to, but stubborn in certain ways,” Kydd told SEARCHLIGHT, while adding that she and Clarke would often have a go at it for various reasons, but always remained friends.

“When I first knew him, he was like a computer genius, really good on computers and who said we should use Macs for the newspaper,” Kydd recounted.

The veteran employee told SEARCHLIGHT she was shocked when she heard of his death.

“I was trembling; it was so abrupt. We knew he was sick. He did not want an invasive procedure, he was treating his condition with a special diet to control the issues and he was doing well, but things were complicated by diabetes,” Kydd noted, while adding that Clarke had The News running like a “well-oiled machine” with good camaraderie where everyone referred to him as Shelley, and not Mr. Clarke.

“He was a very hard worker,” Kydd stressed.

Joslyn Foye, the paper’s accountant, said when she got the message on Friday that Clarke had died, she cried and was in disbelief.

“I feel really saddened, it is as if he hasn’t gone, but he just not at work,” Foye said, while describing Clarke as a straight up person who expressed his feelings.

“He was a really good boss. He had his days, but he never held grudges against us. He looked out for staff before himself, he always put himself last,” Foye said.

A few years ago, Clarke and the other founders of The News, allegedly fell out over the direction of the paper and reports are that for the last three to four months Clarke was not being paid for his services at the paper as a second signatory was refusing to sign his cheques.

Someone close to the media man said the issues with the paper, including his non-payment, were weighing on the 75 year old who gave employees a scare on Saturday, December 7, 2024, after being found unresponsive at the Kingstown Hill office of The News.

Clarke leaves behind his wife and daughter, siblings, and numerous other relatives. He will be laid to rest on Friday, December 27, 2024, after a funeral service at the Anglican Church in Kingstown.