Veteran broadcaster Terry Holder dies

Last Updated on Saturday, 26 December 2015, 21:00 by GxMedia

Veteran Guyanese broadcaster, Terrence Holder died on Wednesday after a prolonged illness, a family member confirmed.

He was 73.

After falling ill with cancer, he retired from the Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company (GT&T) where he had served as its Deputy General Manager (Public Communications).

Holder, a former Secretary General of the Caribbean Broadcasting Union (CBU), began his broadcasting career at the then state-owned Guyana Broadcasting Service (GBS).

Well-respected for his current affairs productions such as documentaries, he moved on to become the General Manager of the Guyana Broadcasting Corporation in the 1990s. After the change of government in 1992, he served on the board of directors of GBC’s successor-National Communications Network (NCN).

After a falling-out with the government of the day, he was shifted to the Ministry of Information.

Holder also served the Guyana Cricket Board and the Guyana Manufacturing and Services Association (GMSA), the latter having only last year congratulated him for his contribution to that association.

Former GBC Programme Manager, Margaret Lawrence hailed Holder, her first employer, as someone who was liberal and allowed a lot of leverage for creativity in radio production- his forte. “He was a very liberal manager. He knew creativity, he encouraged it and he was very supportive as a general manager,” she said.

“Even as Secretary General of CBU, I think he brought many innovative ideas to the Caribbean and he was just all about broadcasting- he just loved the production element because that was the important part of any radio programme and he was an excellent producer,” Lawrence added.

She remembered him as someone who never lost the common touch and was always willing to meet with old radio colleagues.

Holder, according to her, has died very disappointed with the degeneration of the standard of radio broadcasting in recent years. “I don’t think he was very pleased either with what is now called radio and I do hope that we as broadcasters can bring back standards as he knew it.”

Former GBC Programme Manager, Margaret Lawrence hailed Holder, her first employer, as someone who was liberal and allowed a lot of leverage for creativity in radio production- his forte. “He was a very liberal manager. He knew creativity, he encouraged it and he was very supportive as a general manager,” she said.

“Even as Secretary General of CBU, I think he brought many innovative ideas to the Caribbean and he was just all about broadcasting- he just loved the production element because that was the important part of any radio programme and he was an excellent producer,” Lawrence added.

She remembered him as someone who never lost the common touch and was always willing to meet with old radio colleagues.

Holder, according to her, has died very disappointed with the degeneration of the standard of radio broadcasting. “I don’t think he was very pleased either with what is now called radio and I do hope that we as broadcasters can bring back standards as he knew it.”

Former GBC Sports Editor, Basil Bradshaw credited Holder with inspiring him and honing his creative skills in the field of broadcasting. “For the first years of my employment there, he kind of guided me along, not only as a General Manager but as a father.”

As far as the late broadcaster’s contribution to the medium was concerned, Bradshaw noted that it was because of Holder’s own work that he was eventually afforded the opportunity to keep Guyana’s flag flying by being appointed the first CBU Secretary General. “Terry’s contribution to broadcasting was priceless because it was through his contribution to broadcasting gave him the opportunity of becoming the first Secretary General of the CBU and so Guyana was represented on the CBU way up there and it was said he was responsible for building the CBU,” he said.

Holder was also a long-serving Rotarian.