Pens, Mics, Cameras & Baskets: Basketballers in the Local Media

Segment A of Pens, Mics, Cameras & Baskets featured Ishmael Lewis and Marcellus Lee. The article continues below.

Julian Pacquette

Julian is a Youth Officer by profession, and although he is not a member of any media house, per se, his voice was a "regular" on DBS Radio on Saturday afternoons as he hosted the station's popular Youth Vibes programme for young people. He also voiced the promo for that programme.

Going into a full-court press, Julian played basketball with three teams in the national league: Home Boys, followed by Smashers in Division III in the 1980s. He subsequently captained Sixty-Sixers, later renamed Sixers, in the second level division. All three teams were Grand Bay-based.

Julian also assisted in organising some of the editions of the Grand Bay Basketball League, in which he played with Sixers.

Raymond Lawrence

Dominica's Chief Cultural Officer, Raymond Lawrence, began his professional career in the field of broadcasting before moving over to culture.

Raymond's affiliation with the media spans five decades, from the 1970s to current. He began as a Radio Journalist (reporter and news-presenter) at Radio Dominica in 1972. He also assisted in the production and delivery of the annual News in Review package at year-end.

"Uncle Ray", as he is affectionately known, was later promoted to the position of Radio Announcer at Radio Dominica – later renamed DBS Radio. He hosted the popular "The People's Show" programme and notes that the DBS Christmas Song Contest actually had its beginnings in that Saturday-night show.

Raymond also hosted "The Morning Show" where he interacted with listeners by playing two different versions of selected songs, then inviting members of the audience to call in to identify the name of the song as well as those of the artistes.

Raymond also pursued a 4-month Broadcast Training programme at the BBC in London in 1974.

His rich radio voice, experience in radio, and him branching off into the field of culture equipped him to host "Cultural Vibrations" and "AC Happening" on DBS Radio. The latter programme promoted Dominica's arts and culture.

Raymond also worked as a Radio Announcer with Kairi FM where, for 7 years, he hosted "Cultural Connections". It should be noted that at the time Hurricane David stuck Dominica in 1979, Raymond had been working with the then popular Radio Antilles in Montserrat.

The media experience of multi-talented Raymond goes beyond radio. He was the host of the fortnightly Culture in Action television programme which was produced by GIS and aired on the Government channels on MARPIN and SAT TV. Additionally, he occasionally hosted "From All Angles" on MARPIN TV, and prior to the passage of Hurricane Maria he hosted "Rhythms of the Culture" on CBN 4.

Turning away from the pens, mics and vinyl records, Raymond played basketball in the national league with Dominica Grammar School, in the late 1960s. Interestingly, at the age of only 13, he was the youngest player on the team; at the time there was only a single Division in the league.

Some readers may be surprised to know that Raymond also ran 100 yds, 220 yds, 440 yds, 880 yds and 1-mile races in DGS' athletics meets, but never tested his endurance in the Cross Country Run.

Michael "Mike" Jones (Deceased)

Although we did not see or hear "Mike" in the local media he was associated with the newspapers of Dominica's three major political parties. He served as Assistant Editor to the Freedom Voice (of the Dominica Freedom Party), and was also affiliated to the Dominica Labour Party's Labourite, and Voice of the People – the news organ of the United Workers Party.

Subsequently, from 2014 to 2016 Mike assumed ownership of The Chronicle newspaper for which he also provided editorial services.

Panning away from the media, although Mike did not play basketball with any team in Dominica he was very much involved in the sport here at both community and national levels.

He served as coach of Prowlers while they played in the Intermediate Division of the national league in the 1980s and 1990s. He was also involved in the organisation of basketball in Trafalgar/Roseau Valley, and even coached one of the teams in the 2014/2015 Roseau Valley Basketball League.

Mike also served as Assistant Coach to the Dominica Senior National Basketball Team in the late 1980s while serving on the Executive of the Dominica Amateur Basketball Association.

Additionally, Mike was a basketball referee, and the first President of the Dominica Basketball Officials Association (DBOA) – now defunct. He was also the sponsor of the Michael Jones Award for football, cricket and basketball.

Mike passed away suddenly in 2016.