By Tyrone Reid, Staff ReporterFIVE VETERAN journalists one of them a high school dropout were honoured yesterday for their outstanding contributions to media during the Press Association of Jamaica's (PAJ) Annual Veterans' Luncheon.
They were Erica Allen for more than 35 years in the profession; Dorraine Samuels, 23 years; Jennifer Grant, 23 years, and Gleaner's correspondent, Devon Evans for his 27 years service. Alan Magnus, the other awardee was absent.
FIVE NOMINEES
Without a doubt, of the five nominees, Mr. Evans' citation was the toast of the awards luncheon staged at the J. Wray and Nephew's Hospitality Room in St. Andrew.
The turban wearing Rastafarian stood and shone like a new penny as he listened to CVM TV's Kerlyn Brown tell of how he graduated from being a high school failure to a veteran journalist. "Devon Evans started his journalism career in 1977, three years after dropping out of high school while in grade nine. Coming from a poor family, there was hardly any hope of continuing education, so the onus was on him to educate himself," related Ms. Brown.
She informed the gathering that Mr. Evans' 27-year love affair with the profession started out with penning sports stories for a newsletter, which was known as the St. Ann Weekly. After that newsletter folded, Mr. Evans started to write letters to The Gleaner about what was happening in his parish.
FEELS JUSTIFIED
Mr. Evans, who first joined The Gleaner in 1983 and was voted Correspondent of the Year in 1985 as well as reporter with the best news sense, told The Gleaner that he now feels justified after his Ferncourt High School tragedy.
"I am very elated. I feel vindicated and
I know I was not wrong when I was thrown out of school that's why I kept on and
was resilient as I said I wanted to prove myself," said Mr. Evans who was expelled for fighting.
Mr. Evans, who has not been to another educational institution since his expulsion from high school, was not successful at
his first attempt to become a Gleaner
correspondent. But, like any true love story, he courted continuously until he got into the good grace of the 'Old Lady of North Street'.
Today, he files stories from the Garden Parish and is arguably one of the more prolific correspondents in the country.
