eileen dupuch carron

Transcription

WORLD’S LONGEST CURRENT SERVING EDITOR & PUBLISHER
SALUTING YOUR UNPARALLELED
GLOBAL
CAREER IN JOURNALISM & LAW
MRS. EILEEN DUPUCH CARRON
CMG, B.A. MSc., LLB.
“Extraordinary and
remarkable courage under
most difficult conditions, for their
lifetime dedication to the freedom of the press
set them as global flag bearers for the principles
of integrity, justice and human rights.”
International Press Institute (IPI)World Congress 2012
PAGE 2 Wednesday March 16th, 2016
Champion of
a free press
By Rt.. Hon. Hubert Ingraham
Former Prime Minister
Commonwelalth of The Bahamas founded the newspaper to give
The
Hon. Hubert Ingraham
voice to the voiceless; then
Prime Minister of The
under Sir
Etienne Dupuch, who
Commonwealth
of
The
Bahamas
Tribute to Eileen Dupuch Carron,
CMG
expanded the horizons of jourFamily Guardian congratulates
IT gives me great pleasure to salutenalism
Eileen in
Dupuch
veteran
The Carron,
Bahamas
and Eileen Carron on 50 years of
newspaper
editorthe
andmost
publisher
only the
second woman
to be committment in journalism.
gained
international
attention,
ERHAPS
fre- and
called to The Bahamas Bar; she now holds the distinction of being
quently
quoted
the most
senior
femalecomment
member. and now under the third generabout the importance of ation of this outstanding
family.
the
in aentered
democracy
is that Bahamian
Mrspress
Carron
the newspaper
business some
54 years ago as
at The
Tribune.who
Ten years
succeeded
her Carron
extraordiEileen
Dupuch
was
ofeditor
Thomas
Jefferson
said on she
nary
publisher-father
Sir
Etienne
Dupuch
in
that
role.
Sir
Etienne,
that if he had to choose chosen, groomed and prepared
whose editorial board early earned a reputation for independence,
fora free,
the independent
job of Editor
of The
between
having to
a the
government
strictly adhered
principle that
media
was
Tribune
by
her
illustrious
without
newspapers,
or
newsthe best assurance of a strong and vibrant democracy.
papers without a government, father. He saw to it that her
Mrs
Carron
has proved
a worthy successor
towas
her broad
father and
mak-varied
education
he
would
choose
the latter.
ing
it
her
journalist
mission
to
always
provide
the
reading,
and and
Rt. Hon. Hubert A. Ingraham
This American founding with degrees in journalism
nowadays the listening, public with a choice between diverse
father no doubt never expected in law.
and competing ideas advanced in the country whether regarding
topolitics
makeorsuch
choice
in hispolicy.Mrs Carron has been either
sociala and
economic
country, nor perhaps did he studying or practising the art of
In opposition
The Tribune
newspaper,
led by Mrs
an
journalism
for Carron,
half a played
century
expect
that those
who would
immense
role
in
getting
all
opposition
views
into
the
public
domain.
inherit the new republic would and for 35 years she has sat in
it was with great satisfaction then that following the election to
have to make it either. But he the editorial chair. She has
Government of the Free National Movement in 1992, the Tribune
demonstrated
that Sir
Etienne’s
wanted
to emphasise
the fiimporRadio Network
was the
rst company
awarded a radio
licence
in a
judgment
about
her
as in so
tance
of
a
free
press
in
a
democnewly liberalised Bahamian broadcasting sector.
racy. Indeed, a free press - or many other matters in his
Fittinglyasthewe
international
in 2012, recognised
extraordinarily
long career media
say todayPress
to institute,
both Mrs Carron and her late father
for
their
"extraordinary and
include electronic publishing - was correct.
remarkable courage under the most difficult of conditions…for a
Publisher
islifetime
indispensable
to todemocracy
dedication
the freedom ofAs
the Editor
press setand
them
apart as of
The
Tribune justice
she has
and
is flaagnation’s
defence
global
bearersfirst
for the
principles
of integrity,
andpresided
human
rights".demagogues and would- over the modernisation and
against
expansion of this institution.
be tyrants.
ItWe
givesare
me great
pleasure
congratulate
Eileen Carron
More Mrs
importantly,
she onhas
fortunate
in tothe
her tremendous and continuing success at Tribune Media and to
the high
standard
Bahamas
to continuing
have a strong
tradi- maintained
express my
appreciation
for the service
that this
mediaof
journalismpeople
whichashas
the
tion
of continues
press freedom
without
house
to provide
to the Bahamian
an been
independent source
of news and of
information.
which
the achievement
social hallmark of The Tribune.
My colleagues and I congratjustice and democratic progress
may have been well nigh impos- ulate Mrs Carron and The
sible. In the shaping of this Tribune family as they celemagnificent tradition over the brate her 50 years in journalism
SALES OFFICES:has
NASSAU,and
FREEPORT,
& ELEUTHERA
CENTRE: EAST BAY STREET, NASSAU P.O. BOX SS 6232
weABACOwish
her CORPORATE
and The
last century The Tribune
March
10th,
2016.
been in the vanguard; first Tribune every success in the
under Leon Dupuch who future.
on course for 50 years
P
© 2007 ADWORKS
“Mrs
Carron has
maintained
the high
standard of
journalism
which has
been the
hallmark
of The
Tribune.”
A true Bahamian
patriot
By D. Brent Hardt
Chargé d’Affaires, Embassy of
the United States of America
FREEDOM of the press is one
of the core principles enunciated in the Bill of Rights in the
1st Amendment to the U.S.
constitution, and it is a fundamental pillar of democratic
government in every country.
The Bahamas has been
blessed to have Eileen Carron
on the frontlines of the free
press for half a century.
From my first meeting with
Mrs. Carron in her office just
off the busy Tribune newsroom, it was clear to me that
the Tribune’s motto, “Being
Bound to Swear to the
Dogmas of no Master,” was
something she believed deeply
and lived every day.
Her unyielding commitment
to digging up the facts and
reporting the truth emerges
clearly as the motivation for
her tireless work.
When presenting editorial
opinions, she calls it as she
sees it, and does not pull
punches.
She does not expect people
to agree with her on every
issue, rather she wants to promote the debate and dialogue
that form the lifeblood of a
strong, free, and prosperous
Bahamas.
Mrs. Carron is a true
Bahamian patriot, deeply
devoted to her country and to
the Bahamian people. She has
also been a true friend of the
United States.
On behalf of the United
States Embassy in Nassau, I
am pleased to congratulate
Eileen Carron on her 50th
anniversary in journalism.
May she and The Bahamas
mark many more such anniversaries.
the press in a democracy is that Bahamian family.
THE TRIBUNE
Eileen Dupuch Carron was
of Thomas Jefferson who said
that if he had to choose chosen, groomed and prepared
between having a government for the job of Editor of The
WEATHER
by her illustrious
without newspapers, or news- Tribune
TRY OUR
papers without a government,
McFLURRY father. He saw to it that her
he would choose the latter. SNICKERS education was broad and varied
HIGH
L A T in
with87F
degrees
and
This American founding
E S journalism
T N E W S
LOW
O N W W W
76F
. T R I B U N E
2 4 2 . C O M
inWIT
law.
father no doubt never expected SUN
THE PEOPLE
H
’S
Mrs
Carron
has
been
either
to make such a choice in his SHOWER
BIGGEST AN PAPER
Volume:
D BEST
studying
or practising the art of
country, nor perhaps did
he107 No.2
29
FRIDAY, SEPTEM
BER 2, 2011
expect that those who would journalism for half a century
PRICE – 75¢
(Abaco and Gra
nd B
inherit the new republic would and for 35 years she has sat in
have to make it either. But he the editorial chair. She has
wanted to emphasise the impor- demonstrated that Sir Etienne’s
tance of a free press in a democ- judgment about her - as in so
many
other
matters in his
racy. Indeed, a free pressL
-A
orTE
ST R
ELE
AS career
FRO
- M WIKILEA
media as we say today to extraordinarily long E
KS CONTRA
include electronic publishing - was correct.
FOR $27
As
Editor
and
Publisher
of
is indispensable to democracy
AIRPOR
and is a nation’s first defence The Tribune she has presided
against demagogues and would- over the modernisation and
expansion of this institution.
be tyrants.
We are fortunate in the More importantly, she has
Bahamas to have a strong tradi- maintained the high standard of
tion of press freedomTr
without journalism which has been the
ibune publishe
r Tribune.
which the achievement of social hallmark
SEE pag
named in US of The
My colleagues and I congratjustice and democratic progress
Embassyulate
cablMrs
e Carron and The
may have been well nigh impossible. In the shaping of this Tribune family as they celemagnificent tradition over the brate her 50 years in journalism
last century The Tribune has and we wish her and The
been in the vanguard; first Tribune every success in the
under Leon Dupuch who future.
The Tribune
“Mrs
Carron has
maintained
the high
standard of
journalism
which has
been the
hallmark
of The
Tribune.”
U.S.
WIKILEAKS
CABLES
‘Most powerful’
Bahamian women
TRAFFIC ISSU
ES FROM TOPP
LED TREE
PROJECT TO BE
By CELESTE
Tribune Staf
cnixon@tribune
THE NEW
Abaco airport
ed to be comp
The Prime M
net ministers f
terday to offici
lion contract to
Marsh Harbour
At the contr
mony for the co
Marsh Harbour
Building, Air Tra
er and Fire/Cras
Prime Minister H
said the project
time coming, alm
Felipé Majo
THE five most
influe ntial
women in the
Bahamas were
identified by the
in a cable releas US Embassy
ed by Wikileaks
yesterday.
They are: Tribu
ne
publisher
Eileen Dupuch
Carron, Court
of Appe al presi
dent Joan
Sawyer, forme
r
Mini ster Cynt Deputy Prime
hia “Mot her”
Pratt, former Attor
al Allys on Mayn ney Generard-G ibson
and domestic violen
ce victims'
advocate Sandr
a Dean-Patterson.
In the 2007 cable
current Progressive Mrs Pratt,
ty MP for St Cecili Liberal Para,
was
chosen
beca use of her
deputy prime minisposit ion as
ter and minister of national
security within
SEE page eigh
t
TRIBUNE PUBLISHER
AND
Eileen Dupuch Carro CEO
n
THIS TREE topple
d by Hurricane Irene
last week on Marat
WIKILEAKS CABLE: FOR
hon Road has yet
to be moved, forcin
g motorists to take
alternative rou
HAD NO IMPACT ON MER MINISTER CHARIT Y IN TALKS WITH
US TRAVEL LAW ALL
OFFICIALS OVER
DESPITE his claim
s
to
the
EGED ‘STOLEN’ RELIEF
contrary, forme
PLP SAYS MOODY’S
Obie Wilchcomb
r
Western Hemi e had no impact on the impleTourism Minister
DOWNGRAD
SUP
PLIES
By NOELLE NICH
sphere Travel Initia
mentation of the
Wikileaks cable
OLAS
tive (WHTI), a
‘CO
NFI
Tribu
RM
has revealed.
work
ne Staff Repo
recent released
S GOV T’S MISMANAG
ed in partnership
The WHTI was
rter
with a
nnicolls@tribunem
Florida-based
a US law imple
By AVA TURN
EM
edia.net
security compamented in 2007,
QUEST
ny, Sea Air
designed
Tribu
gressi
A true Bahamian
patriot
SEE page eigh
t
to
ne Staff Repo
Land Security
ve Liberal Party
rter
Inc
A LOC AL
(SALS), comp
aturnquest@tribun
gove rnme nt borro
rised of ex-miliemedia.net
claims the gover chari ty that
tary personnel
w
public spending
and special-ops
are
its relief suppl nment “stole”
force members
THE lowered outlo
ly unsustainable. da
ies
to
entered into talks says it has
ok by an
and food suppl deliver water
international rating
Stand
with
ies
ard & Poor
officia
to
reside
ls
to resolve the matte
nts
in Cat Island,
coun try’s inves s firm on the
BBB+ on the Baha affi
Eleuthera and
r.
tmen
Darren Adler, direct
t-gra
mas
other parts of the
de
credit status has
Acknowledging
Bahamas.
Humanitarian Oper or of the
Together, the
government’s confirmed the
outlook in a recen the l
ation founorganisations
econo
datio n (HOP E
t pre
operated two helico
management, accor mic misment ,
Foun datio n),
the
ding to the
said he is “very
fixed -wing aircr pters and a
opposition.
explained that gove r
aft. They
the
about the actio confu sed”
worked independen
The country has
al economic and recen
tly of the
maintained
ment officials in ns of governfinanc
National Emer
its
A3
neces
relati
governmen
gency Managesitated the “extra i
on to his
organisation.
ment Agency
o
howe ver, Mood t bond rating;
levels
(NEM
of
spend
A).
y’s Inves tors
They
ing” de
“We are all very
also worked with
Servi ce has down
“precipitous”
Robin Hood
grade d the
decline i
this. We were not confused by
Ente rpris es, which
country’s outloo
enue.
on a mission
dona ted
k from “stable”
for any foreig
food and other
to “negative”
n
The governmen
suppl
due to limited
We were not on gover nmen t.
t exp
Of primary conce ies.
growth prospects
that
a
merce
fund
rn
s
nary
were
for the
in the face of
mission. And if
need
joint effort was
mounting debt
“safeguard the
an incident last
accrued over the
financial s
would we put we were, why
week in which
past decade.
boost econo mic
a press photographer on the
offici als “forc defence force
Acco rding to
flight
provide assistanceactiv it
ibly” remo ved
think we were comin? Did they
water and food
per cent of the Mood y’s, 40
ans badly in need to Ba
country’s debt
cial forces to wage g with speone of its aircra supplies from
increase occur
these trying times of he
ft destined to
red in the past
in that case, why war? And
.”
help victims of Hurri
two years, pushi
The statement
did we go
cane Irene,
throu gh immi
read:
according to Mr
the median for ng levels past
unusually high
grati on?” Mr
Adler
its rating range
rise
Adler wondered.
The HOPE Foun .
.
The revised outloo
els therefore was in deb
dation was
k follows a
The HOP E
not sur
downgrade by
ing and in fact
Foun datio n
rival
dard & Poors Ratin firm StanSEE page eigh
the Governme forecaste
nt in light o
t
in 2008, according gs Services
to the Pro-
SEE page eigh
t
By D. Brent Hardt
Chargé d’Affaires, Embassy of
the United States of America
FREEDOM of the press is one
of the core principles enunciated in the Bill of Rights in the
1st Amendment to the U.S.
constitution, and it is a fundamental pillar of democratic
government in every country.
The Bahamas has been
blessed to have Eileen Carron
on the frontlines of the free
press for half a century.
From my first meeting with
Mrs. Carron in her office just
off the busy Tribune newsroom, it was clear to me that
the Tribune’s motto, “Being
Bound to Swear to the
Dogmas of no Master,” was
something she believed deeply
and lived every day.
Her unyielding commitment
to digging up the facts and
reporting the truth emerges
clearly as the motivation for
her tireless work.
NASSA
U ANDpresenting
When
BAHAMA ISL editorial
ANDS’ LEA
opinions, she calls it as she DING NEWSPAPER
sees it, and does not pull
punches.
She does not expect people
to agree with her on every
issue, rather she wants to promote the debate and dialogue
that form the lifeblood of a
strong, free, and prosperous
Bahamas.
Mrs. Carron is a true
Bahamian patriot, deeply
devoted to her country and to
the Bahamian people. She has
D. Brent Hardt
also been a true friend of the
United States.
On behalf of the United
States Embassy in Nassau, I
am pleased to congratulate
Eileen Carron on her 50th
anniversary in journalism.
May she and The Bahamas
mark many more such anniversaries.
THE TRIBUNE
Wednesday, March 16th, 2016 PAGE 3
TRIBUTES
SEN. HON. ALLYSON MAYNARD GIBSON, QC.,
Attorney-General & Minister of Legal Affairs
W
e in The Bahamas celebrated
International
Women’s Day 2016 early by
passing, by special majority in each House of Parliament, four Bills aimed at
ensuring equal treatment
under the law for our sons
and daughters. As a woman whose grandmother
marched at the forefront
of the Women’s Suffrage
Movement, I take this opportunity to extend the
celebration by praising
another mighty Bahamian
woman – one whose father
fought for equality- Mrs.
Eileen Dupuch Carron.
Mrs. Carron is a proud Bahamian, barrister, journalist,
CEO, artist, loyal friend, wife,
mother and grandmother has
fought lifelong with courage
and intelligence as both captain and foot soldier on the
frontlines of the communications industry for the benefit
of her homeland and its people.
At the International Press
Institute’s 63rd World Congress, in the presence of over
8000 people in standing ovation, Mrs. Carron was recognized as the world’s longest
serving Editor and Publisher (53 years) – she was acclaimed as a “global flag
bearer” for her lifetime dedication to freedom of the press.
al
Her exceptional
achievements
personinclude:
First and only Bahamian
to date to have her editorial
read into the Record from
the floor of the U.S. Senate
First
Bahamian
woman to be graduated from
NYU’s prestigious Columbia School of Journalism
First Bahamian woman pilot
First CEO of a private radio station with
the launch of 100JAMZ.
I have known Mrs. Carron
for over 40 years and can attest to her work ethic, intellect, curiosity, courtesy and
passion for excellence. I thank
her for her numerous philanthropic pursuits that continue
to have far reaching impact.
I invite all Bahamians, not
just women, to salute Mrs Carron as a role model and for
her 53-plus years of service
to journalism - not swearing
to the dogmas of any master.
Second woman to be
called to The Bahamas BarSecond woman publisher
Allyson Maynard Gibson
March 14th, 2016
HON.LESLIE O. MILLER, M.P.
I
t is a profound
pleasure and great
honor for me to
have the opportunity to pay tribute to Ms.
Eileen Dupuch Carron,
editor and publisher of
The Tribune. I’ve had the
privilege of knowing this
dear lady for the past 40
years and always found
her to be fair minded, objective, and resolute in her
efforts to advocate moral ethics and the highest
journalistic
standards.
A prime example of the true
quality of this fine lady was a
gesture made for former Deputy
Prime Minister, Hon. Arthur Dion
Tall Pines Constituency
Hanna. Mr. Hanna was one of the
key architects of the modern Bahamas and Mrs. Carron appreciated
him as such.
In 1986, The Hon Arthur Dion
Hanna resigned as a member of the
late Sir Lynden Pindling’s administration and was at that time unable to voice his views on ZNS Television and Radio. To his pleasant
surprise Mrs. Carron saw to it that
The Tribune carried the full story
as to why he parted company with
the government of the day.
When I think of Mrs. Carron and
her contributions to the Bahamian
people, whereby she followed in
her late father Etienne Dupuch’s
footsteps, the person I compare her
to is none other than the late Mar-
garet Thatcher, the former prime
minister of England, who served
two colorful and productive terms. Like Mrs. Thatcher, Mrs. Carron
in the execution of her duties never
winked, nor flinched in the face of
adversities.
Indeed the difficult times seem
to make her stronger and more
steadfast in her beliefs that she was
on the right side of history. Happy
Birthday to an amazing lady and I
trust that the Good Lord will add
many more years to an already illustrious life. May God continue to bless her
and her family.
Scotiabank salutes
EILEEN DUPUCH CARRON,
C.M.G., M.S., B.A., LLB.
on her unparalleled accomplishments.
Registered trademark of The Bank of Nova Scotia, used under licence.
®
Leslie O. Miller
March 14th, 2016
How a ‘funny little
sheet’ became
the fearless ‘Voice
Of The People’
PAGE 4 Wednesday March 16th, 2016THE TRIBUNE
By EILEEN CARRON
Eileen Dupuch Carron, CMG, M.S., B.A., LLB
Sir Etienne Dupuch & Lady Dupuch, Kt
Kt., O.B.E., K.M., K.C.S.G., (Hon.) LL.D., D.Litt .
THE GREAT Queen was dead.
In 1901 few people could remember a world in which Victoria was not queen — queen of the largest empire in history. Her name had stood for all that was solid, reliable and
secure. Her empire was entering a new century without her
and the future no longer seemed as bright.
When she came to the throne — barely 18 years of age
— the railway was a novelty. During her 63-year reign the
opening of the Suez Canal (1869) had not only revolutionised the world’s trade routes, but the vessels that sailed
them; the telephone was in and Marconi had developed the
wireless telegraph.
In 1840 — three years after Victoria ascended the throne
— Elias Dupuch of Bordeaux, France, who in 1815 at the
age of 21 had fought with Napoleon’s defeated army at
Waterloo, came to the Bahamas by way of the French colony of Martinique. He settled in Nassau, established an
iron foundry and raised three sons — Joseph, Gilbert and
Pierre.
On August 25, 1870, Elias, who had become a British
subject on November 5, 1855, died at the age of 76.
In the same year — 1870 — the Penny Farthing bicycle
was the style. Fifteen years later two Germans, Benz and
Daimler, had independently built their “horseless carriages”. The motor car was on the road and today the modern
Mercedes Benz and Daimler are well known trade names.
Shortly afterwards another German, Rudolf Diesel, was to
give his name to an engine that burned oil. Steam engines
powered the large ocean liners and the steam-driven railway
had completely changed world communication. Through it
the vast North American continent was being opened. In
1900 the petrol-engined Zeppelin was airborne.
In England the fight was on for political and social
reforms. There was Home Rule for Ireland and education
for all. Tremendous strides were being made in science and
medicine, art, literature and music.
The world’s greatest and most powerful Empire had
reached the peak of its glory. But by the time the old Queen
had died, aged 81, there were indications that this closelyknit empire was fraying at the edges, decay was setting in,
and a close observer could predict fairly accurately that the
greatest Empire in history was slipping into decline.
In 1833 — four years before she came to the throne —
the Abolition of Slavery Act became law and by August 1,
1834 slavery was at an end. However, here in the Bahamas
a state of “employers” and “apprentices” continued until,
on August 1, 1838, the House of Assembly agreed that all
former slaves were now completely free to decide their own
future. The slaves gave Queen Victoria credit for their new
status.
Among the freed slaves and their descendants she was
affectionately known as “Aunty Vicky”. Her marble statue,
unveiled on May 24, 1905 stood — and still stands — in the
centre of Parliament Square and all respected the great
personage it represented. Empire Day — May 24, Aunty
Vicky’s birthday — was the most important holiday on the
Bahamian’s social calendar.
Bahamian children, until about 30 years ago, still chanted:
“24th of May, the Queen’s birthday, if you don’t give us a
holiday, we’ll all run away!”
Today’s Bahamian, wanting to distance himself from his
colonial past, has dropped the holiday from the calendar.
Two years after Queen Victoria’s death and only a month
before the Wright brothers were to propel mankind into the
age of aviation from Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, The Tribune was born.
Its birth came quietly on Saturday, November 21, 1903 in
a dingy front room on the ground floor of a building at the
corner of Frederick and Shirley Streets.
The “funny, little sheet” — “being bound to swear to the
dogmas of no master”, a motto proudly proclaimed in Latin
on its masthead — had no reason to succeed.
It wasn’t that Leon Edward Hartman Dupuch, its
founder, was brilliant — according to his obituary he was
“not what is called a gifted man” — but he was a man of
determination and hard work. This was the secret of his
success — and even today — 100 years later — it is recognised as the formula by which The Tribune grew and took
firm root in the community.
It is from Gilbert, Elias’ second son, that The Tribune family springs. Gilbert died at 31, leaving his wife and six children almost destitute. Leon, his eldest child, was apprenticed to E. C. Moseley, first proprietor and editor of The
Nassau Guardian and grandfather of Miss Mary Moseley, the
last Moseley to head that institution.
In those early years the Guardian’s columns were open
only to the Government House “set” — those who were
accepted into the social circle of the colonial governor and
his lady. Anyone — black or white — who did not move in
that charmed circle was just not newsworthy.
SEE Page 5
THE TRIBUNE
FROM Page 4
A group of whites, rankled by
this superior attitude, formed a
company to start an “open”
newspaper. Ostensibly this new
venture would welcome all
“outside” the blue-blood circle.
Leon, one of its shareholders,
became its first managing editor, and the Watchman — a fullsized broadsheet - was born.
But Leon was disillusioned.
He soon realised that the
Watchman too had its exclusive
set and its superior attitudes.
There were those who were
still outside the pale. This was
not his idea of what a public
newspaper should be.
Leon’s name appeared for
the last time as editor of the
Watchman in October 1903. He
had quit – and the following
m o n t h T h e Tr i b u n e w a s
“brought forth in the groanings
of his poverty”.
****
LEON DUPUCH was now
penniless, but he owned a small
job press costing about $15, a
few cases of worn type and a
rented cutting machine.
“The advantages resulting to
the community at large from a
newspaper conducted on liberal
and impartial principles are too
obvious to require being particularly enumerated,” he
wrote in his first editorial.
A penniless
publisher in
search of the truth
The daily reports of the
paper reflected a people living
a simple life and interested in
simple things — the sailing of
their ships to and from New
York and Jacksonville, mainly
with freight, sometimes with a
few passengers; marriages, with
The Tribune adding its “greetings to the happy couple”; and
deaths — the Eastern Volunteer Fire Brigade drawing the
fire engine to the cemetery
with the coffin of their captain
on top. To his family The Tribune extended “its most sincere sympathy”.
And then there were the
“condensed cables” with news
from around the world. Quite a
bit of information was
squeezed into the little fourpage sheet.
Although it involved much
work, Leon was pleased with
his first independent effort.
Not able to afford staff, he
recruited his family.
His wife, Harriet, an accomplished artist, harpist and
school teacher “came cheerfully to his assistance and soon
proved herself as helpful in the
office as she was efficient in the
discharge of her household
duties.”
The couple had four children
— Gilbert, 12, Naomi, 8, Etienne, 4, and Evelyn, barely a
At last the Bahamas had a
newspaper for all the people.
Its only purpose then — as it is
today — was “to conspire with
all who aim for the truth.”
The Tribune was published
twice weekly — Wednesdays
and Saturdays. The subscription rates were 1d for a single
copy; 2/- for a three months
subscription; 4/- for six
months and 8/- for one year.
Advertising rates were 2d per
line with 1d per line the extra
special rate for subsequent
insertions — all payable in
advance.
With a small job press that
could only print on letter size
sheets of paper — not full size
newsprint — The Tribune’s
printed page was only 41/2 by
81/2 inches. There were four
pages. During the first half of
its existence it appeared in
various forms and sizes —
sometimes as a one page daily,
more frequently as a fourpage bi-weekly.
THE tiny press on which The Tribune was born
year old when The Tribune was
launched.
The two older children
worked with their father before
and after school, while little
Etienne tried to poke his anxious fingers into everybody’s
type tray. By the time he was
five, Etienne decided it was
time to officially join the staff.
He helped himself to a few
Tribunes and slipped out of the
office.
His first attempt to sell Tribunes took him as far as the
Police Barracks on East Street.
His sortie into the business
world was a great success.
From that moment Etienne
had joined The Tribune. A
friend writing at the time,
recorded that it was the youngster’s “delight to sell and deliver papers.” The small boy
extended his route down East
Street to Ross Corner and
across to Farm Road (Market
Street south). This was the first
time that a newspaper had ever
been sold south of Gregory
Arch. As Etienne grew to manhood, the families on his newspaper route were counted
among his closest friends.
The small boy’s paper route
had helped his father realise his
dream — The Tribune was for
all Bahamians, there was to be
no colour, class or religious bar.
It was a newspaper for all those
living Over-the-Hill as well as
for those living on the Bay
Street side of the hill.
Twenty-one yearslater an
associate recalling those early
years described the children’s
education: “Their schooling
was assisted by their devoted
mother who had been a teacher
in former years. Thus The Tri-
THE first issue of The Tribune
bune became a vocational school for all the
Dupuch children and has continued to this
day a practical training school for numerous
boys who have learned or are learning their
trade there.”
The early years were hard, but Harriet,
known in the family as “Frizzie”, supplemented her husband’s small income from
her 50-foot square garden where she grew
flowers and vegetables, and supplied many
of the needs of the family table. People
came from far and near to see her garden.
They bought her flowers and vegetables.
The Tribune’s first press was purchased
with money from Harriet’s garden.
ON JUNE 9, 1909, Leon’s beloved Harriet Elizabeth was dead at the age of 36. She
died giving birth to a stillborn child. Etienne,
10, always recalled the sadness of that night
as though it were just yesterday. “On the
night my mother died,” he said, “my life
changed. All the childish joy went out of it.
My world collapsed.”
Two years later, on August 2, 1911, Leon
married 19-year-old Ethelinda Pyfrom, the
youngest daughter of Thaddeus Pyfrom of
Governor’s Harbour, Eleuthera. Leon was
41. On December 7, 1912 a new baby was
added to the family — Eugene Aubrey.
(Eugene Dupuch, QC., in whose memory
the Eugene Dupuch Law School has been
named).
Happiness was restored to the little
household on Market Street. The children
loved their new mother and cherished their
baby brother.
****
THE TRIBUNE was bright and breezy. It
had letters to the editor, short stories, local
news, regular reports from Out Island commissioners – and “grave scandals”.
SIR ETIENNE
DUPUCH
- a crusading journalist
who installed the drive,
extraordinary courage
and art of leadership into
his daughter
THIRD GENERATION: Eileen Carron, eldest daughter of Sir
Etienne and Lady Dupuch, was handed the reins of The Tribune
by her father in 1972 and has been guiding its fortunes ever since.
As editor and publisher, she has been in the thick of the newspaper’s fight for survival, sometimes against formidable odds. During
her reign, the paper begun by her grandfather on a small treadle
press has embraced modern technology, installing state-of-the-art
equipment to stay ahead of the field.
Eastern promise
AMERICAN freelance journalist Ron Laytner, whose stories
are syndicated to major newspapers all over the world, recalls
how The Tribune enabled him to pull off a deal with a big publishing company in the Middle East.
As he was trying to tie up a contract for his company, Edit
International, Mr Laytner was asked by an executive to list the
publications using his material. Reading off a long roll-call of
prestigious newspapers in Europe and the United States, he
finally mentioned “The Nassau Tribune”.
The executive stopped him immediately. “If your articles are
good enough for them, then they’re good enough for us,” he
said and immediately closed the deal.
“Thanks to The Tribune, my stories are now appearing regularly in major Middle East papers,” said Mr Laytner.
Father and daughter
at Chicago conference
SIR ETIENNE DUPUCH and his daughter
Eileen in the 1950s, when they both attended an
Inter-American Press Association conference in
Chicago. Eileen Dupuch, later to become Mrs Roger Carron, attended universities in Canada, the
United States and Britain before returning to the
Bahamas to eventually take over her father’s mantle
as Publisher and Editor of The Tribune.
by
ROGER CARRON
F
EW JOURNALISTS have enjoyed
the recognition the
late Sir Etienne
Dupuch received
for his work as Editor and Publisher of this newspaper for 54 years before he
handed the chair over to his
eldest daughter Eileen Carron
in 1972.
For more than 30 years Mrs
Carron has sat in the Editor’s
chair and has also been recognised for her leadership and
editorials that have had an
impact on the development and
growth of this country as a democratic and constitutional member of the British Commonwealth under both the PLP and
FNM governments.
During the Second World
War O.K. Keeler visited Nassau
briefly. He read one of Sir Etienne’s articles on the abdication
of Edward Vlll who decided to
marry a twice divorced woman.
Later the abdicated king, who
took the title of the Duke of
Windsor, was sent to Nassau as
Governor of The Bahamas.
At the time of Mr Keeler’s
visit to Nassau the s.s. New
Northland was operating on the
Nassau-Miami run. On his was
back to the U.S. on the ship Mr
Keeler wrote an appreciation of
The Tribune under the heading
“Nulius Addictus Jurare in Verba Magistri” (which is the motto
the paper uses over its editorial
masthead to this day: translated
it means “Being Bound to
Swear to the Dogmas of No
Master”). The article was published in an Atlanta, Georgia
newspaper. Years later Sir Etienne, who never met Mr Keeler,
received a clipping of the story
from A.B. Medock, another
complete stranger, who mailed
it to him from Atlanta.
“This is a clipping,” Mr Medock wrote, “ from an Atlanta,
Georgia newspaper which
impressed me so much that I
kept it. Later, on a weekend trip
to Nassau I intended to bring it
in person to your office, but lack
of time prevented this. Perhaps
this summer we may be back but
I’ll mail it to you as it may be
interesting. O.K. Keeler has
since died.
Sir Etienne never met Mr
Medock but here is the Keeler
article:
S.S. NEW NORTHLAND,
Nassau, Dec. 15 – I wish to
quote precisely from an editorial in The Nassau Daily Tribune concerning what H.L.
Mencken has called the greatest
news story since the Resurrection
– an editorial in this little eightpage afternoon paper, published
and edited by natives, in this tiny
corner of the far-flung British
Empire.
The motto of the Nassau Daily
Tribune, in classic Latin at the
masthead, reads: Nullius addictus
jurare in verba magistri. My
schoolboy Latin was good enough
to give me the idea. It means:
‘Being bound to swear to the dogma of no master.’ And by the Lord
Harry, this little newspaper, in this
tiny corner of the British Empire,
has printed a real editorial on the
abdication of Edward Vlll, under
the title “Duty or Love?”
I am going to quote verbatim,
not the entire editorial, which is a
column and half of eight-point
type; but a few excerpts which, as
I firmly believe, constitute as bold
a comment as will appear in the
London Times – the Old Thunderer – itself.
“Edward, the king whom the
whole world loved, respected and
admired; the king whom the
Empire needed most at this time
and from whom the Empire
expected so much, yesterday
meekly faced the microphone –
this mature man of 42 – and told
the whole world that he had laid
down the burden of kingship for
the woman he loved... a pitiable
appeal for sympathy from a man
to whom the Empire had looked
to infuse in its veins a new life, a
new ambition, greater strength
and courage to face its gathering
enemies and carry the Empire to a
still higher plane of glory and
accomplishment. This is a bitter
pill for British people to swallow.
“As King,” continues this
remarkable editorial, “history
must deal with him severely. It
must send his name down to posterity as the king who had the
greatest opportunity for service of
any man who has ever lived, but
who sought the easy way in the
soft arms of a woman, with money
he inherited from the nation – a
woman with a history that made
all thoughts of her taking the place
of Queen Mary on the throne
repugnant to British peoples
throughout the world.”
As a man, the editorial continued, Edward has placed himself in
“the greatest love story of all time,
deserving the pen of a Shakespeare.” It then continues, however, to comment on the woman in
this love story.
“A great deal of blame is being
laid on the woman. We are all
hunters of one sort or another.
Right in Nassau we see men and
women sacrificing their souls for
some vain, empty honour, some
inconsequential dignity. Mrs Wallis Simpson has hunted and won
not only another man, but a place
in history as the woman who might
have sat on the throne of England
Sir Etienne Dupuch, Kt, K.C.M.G.
– and who might have wrecked the
greatest empire of all time. Suffice it
to say that had she been worth the
sacrifice she would not have allowed
her lover to make it.”
Personally, I humbly beg to suggest
that if this editorial in this little paper
in Nassau had included this last line
only, it would have merited the rating
of a great pronouncement. It concludes:
“Today, more than ever, we owe it
to George Vl to rally round his banner and echo with a loud voice his cry
‘Excelsior!’ To Edward we say: may
God help you to find the happiness
you seek in the fickle smile of a woman, and spare you an awakening to
full realisation of the true significance
of your irrevocable decision.”
****
SIR ETIENNE received hundreds
of letters, telegrams and autographed
books from the Rt. Hon. Lord Beaverbrook, one of the most powerful
newspaper publishers and parliamentarians in England during this century.
It is difficult to select one to be quoted on this occasion.
On December 9,1959 Lord Beaverbrook wrote: “My congratulations on
the immense success of The Tribune.
Your articles fascinate me and your
powers as a writer now exceed your
authority as a newspaper owner. As a
newspaper proprietor you are indeed
powerful and a most important figure.”
In his newspaper in London Lord
Beaverbrook described Sir Etienne as
the most forceful newspaper writer in
the British Commonwealth.
In March, 1949, Lord Beaverbrook
flew to Nassau in his private plane
especially to be present for the dedication of a new press and the opening
of The Tribune’s new offices on Shirley Street. Governor and Lady Murphy and the leading men and women
of the town were present.
“Mr Dupuch has said he doesn’t
know why I have been so interested
in The Tribune,” Lord Beaverbrook
told the guests. “I’ll tell you. Mr
Dupuch has a vital spark, and that
vital spark is what makes good journalists. It is what has kept The Tribune
going, and made possible the growth
which we are celebrating today.
“I like that spark in Mr Dupuch,
and I think you are going to see him
become a journalist of considerable
reputation in the Empire.
“When a newspaper loses that
spark, it dies. I might say that a newspaper needs competition, too. I’m
sure The Tribune will have that incentive in Nassau. Competition is one of
the things which helps to make newspapers great.”
At one stage Lord Beaverbrook
attempted to get Sir Etienne to give
up his beloved Tribune and join his
newspaper in London. Sir Etienne
declined the invitation, saying his
work was with his people in The
Bahamas.
6 November, 2007
THE TRIBUNE
Celebrating An Unparalleled 50 Years In Bahamian Journalism
Upholding a glorious,
unbroken tradition
Talented
journalist
with a
business
brain
By
SirA.
Arthur
Foulkes,
By H.E.
Arthur
Foulkes
Former
Governor toGeneral
Former Ambassador
the
United Kingdom
By Sir Geoffrey Johnstone
Distinguished lawyer,
former head of
Higgs & Johnson law firm
I DID not know Eileen when
she was a little girl. I came to
know her through her father,
the late Sir Etienne Dupuch,
publisher of The Tribune.
Eileen was the apple of his eye.
My mother was an avid reader of The Tribune and she was
fond of saying to her friends
that she never went to bed at
night without Etienne! She was
a lover of the English language
and she admired his skill with
the English tongue.
I grew to know Sir Etienne
after my return to the Bahamas
in 1950 from my studies in
England and it was then that I
took my first timorous steps
into politics. I was convinced
that change was a necessity
and, although I became
involved with the United
Bahamian Party, I sought to
find a better way forward. Sir
Etienne helped me in that
quest. And so I grew to know
Eileen.
Eileen spent much of her
time abroad, pursuing her studies in science, English and the
law. And so she became an
extremely well-educated young
lady and was duly called to the
GRADUATION - EILEEN DUPUCH on her graduation day in 1954 from
Toronto University, Canada where she majored in Philosophy
Bahamas Bar. Several paths to
the future lay before her, but
there was an ineluctable tug to
the printer’s ink and Eileen fell
into her father’s orbit.
It was not all smooth sailing.
Sir Etienne, like many gifted
people, was a master of the
English language, and the art of
persuasion. He could appeal to
the heart and the mind and the
whole being of man’s nature
and disposition but he was not
bountifully endowed with business skills and the harsh tedium
of dollars and cents in running
a commercial enterprise.
Eileen’s skills lay very much in
her father’s orbit but early in
her exposure to the hard facts
of business life she learned that
business is business and that
there is more to the success of a
The Tribune
newspaper enterprise than just
the written word and the printing machines.
Sir Etienne and Lady
Dupuch left the Bahamas and
went to live abroad for several
years in the early 1970s and
lived a somewhat nomadic life
in the Caribbean but the siren
song of family, friends and
memories drew them back to
their homeland and their children.
It was then that he perceived
the startling transformation
that the little lady who was his
daughter had wrought in his
absence. And he saw before his
very eyes the enterprise which
had been his life’s work and the
child he had nurtured in the
land of his birth living and
growing and flourishing.
MY FIRST contact with a
great Bahamian editor and publisher was back in 1943 when I
was one of the after school and
summer vacation apprentices at
The Nassau Guardian. Mary
Moseley, who sat in the editorial chair of that institution for
many years, never, or very
rarely ever, came to the printing
plant on Charlotte Street.
So every afternoon before
the press started to roll we shuttled galley proofs between the
plant -- through a back exit to
Parliament Street -- and her
house on Bank Lane. There the
grand old lady sat elegantly
attired with pearls around her
neck and her silver gray hair
perfectly coiffed.
She seemed peripherally
aware of my presence in the
room as she went about her
work. Whenever she pounced
on a mistake she would deliver
a lecture as if I, the messenger,
had been responsible for the
offending piece.
The Guardian was in those
days well-written, meticulously
proofed and expertly edited.
Miss Moseley herself reported
almost verbatim on the proceedings of the House of
Assembly.
But The Guardian was decidedly upper crust. It unashamedly reflected the activities and
interests of the ruling class of
those days and paid little or no
attention to the activities or
concerns of the majority of the
Bahamian people.
I had also done a summer at
The Tribune on Shirley Street
but did not really get to know
the editor of that newspaper
until I joined the staff as a fulltime employee in 1948. To say
that Etienne Dupuch was different from Mary Moseley
would be quite an understatement.
Sir Etienne was a dynamic,
involved editor who mastered
every process in the production
and printing of his newspaper,
knew every one of his employees and took a paternal interest
in each of them.
He was also a hard-hitting,
crusading editor who not only
recognized the injustices inherent in Bahamian society at the
time, but waged a relentless
campaign for reform. His editorials were written in a very
personal, free-flowing style, not
at all like the traditional, structured leaders of Miss Moseley.
Today’s politicians can consider themselves quite lucky
that they are no longer exposed
to the kind of cutting ridicule
that Sir Etienne sometimes
meted out when he became irritated at the excesses of those
who dominated the political
landscape in his day.
Sir Etienne had great personal loyalties which he unhesitatingly expressed in his columns,
but he was passionate in his
pursuit of the truth, which he
published without fear or
favour in the news columns of
his paper.
Like all great journalists he
was committed to accuracy. A
mistake -- especially a mistake
of fact -- was to him a calamity
and something that had to be
admitted and corrected at the
earliest opportunity.
While he did fierce battle
with his foes and excoriated the
most arrogant among them, Sir
Etienne made sure that his
newspaper reflected the wider
society and that its columns
were open to all points of view.
In fact, letters taking issue
with him got priority publication over less interesting ones
waiting for attention in the editorial tray. I can give personal
testimony to this because on
occasion I had the temerity to
challenge him in his own newspaper while I sat at the head of
his news desk.
This is, in brief, the glorious
unbroken tradition of The
Tribune, a tradition which is
upheld today by Eileen Dupuch
Carron who, like Mary Moseley
and then her father, has become
the pre-eminent Bahamian editor and publisher of her day.
Change has come to The
Tribune under the leadership of
Mrs. Carron, and that was
inevitable. The editorial space
in The Tribune no longer
reflects the personal style of Sir
Etienne -- it is doubtful that
anyone could successfully imitate him even if they wanted to
– but neither does it reflect the
staid formal style of Miss
Moseley.
Mrs. Carron is an accomplished journalist who knows
how to separate fact from fiction, has a full understanding of
Bahamian history and its international and local context, and
has the intellectual capacity and
skill to put it all together.
She has inherited her father’s
strong sense of loyalty, but she
has also kept the news and
opinion columns of her newspaper open to reflect the activities
and opinions of all segments of
Bahamian society.
She has earned the gratitude
and congratulations of the
Bahamian people and has lived
up to the confidence that Sir
Etienne placed in her.
My wonderful wife
of many talents
By Roger Carron
MY WIFE is an amazing
woman. She handles her chores
as a wife, mother, homemaker,
caregiver, counsellor, editor,
publisher, lawyer, and head of
the country’s leading newspaper with the easy poise and
grace of a ballerina who is in
full control of all her movements.
And despite all the responsibility, stress and worry that
comes with her various jobs,
she manages still to retain her
femininity. That, to my mind,
makes her quite a unique individual. I first met my wife in
1960 just after I had finished
my national service in the
army as a young lieutenant in
the Gurkhas. I was preparing to
take my bar finals at the Inns of
Court in London, England,
having had to delay my legal
career to do national service.
Eileen was taking her law
degree at the University of
London and also trying to cram
for her bar finals at the same
time to save having to spend
extra time in England. She had
to get back to the Bahamas
where her father, Sir Etienne,
was expecting her to take over
the family newspaper, The
Tribune. She had spent several
years away from home gaining
a B.A. in philosophy from
Toronto University in 1954 and
a Masters in Journalism from
Columbia University after that
and was now pursuing an
LL.B. degree from King’s
College, London University.
We met at the law school
where in the class of about 24
there were just two women.
From the moment we first met
I knew that Eileen was someone quite special and I wanted
to spend the rest of my life with
her -- if she would have me. As
it worked out it was all rather
remarkable. The first hurdle
was that Eileen was scheduled
to return home to help her
father with the family newspaper, so there was no prospect of
staying in England to practice
my law. We decided that in
order to be ready to practice
law in the Bahamas it would be
better if I disbarred myself
from my Inn (Gray’s Inn) and
worked in a solicitor's office for
a year to gain experience on
that side of the law since I
would not be able to practice as
a barrister in the Bahamas for
at least five years - the time it
would take to gain residency
status. (While I was in practice
for a year in England I was fortunate to be one of the few
young lawyers who was able to
see a case right through from
initial pleadings to presentation
before the Privy Council in the
House of Lords).
But another setback was that
even as an English solicitor I
would not be able to practice in
the Bahamas as the profession
was closed to outsiders. That
meant rethinking how we were
to manage if we got married
and had to live in the Bahamas.
Eileen’s father came to the rescue and suggested that I join
The Tribune - but first I had to
get some training and learn
about the newspaper profession. I spent another nine
months in England with a fine
newspaper in Peterborough (the
owner was a friend of Sir
Etienne and I had been at
Cambridge with his eldest son.)
There I worked from
copy boy to copy editor before joining Sir
Etienne at the
family newspaper. From that
time (1962) I
never opened
another law
book, except
to help my
wife look up
an item on
defamation
when
the
paper
was
served with a
libel writ from
time to time.
Not all plain
sailing
But when I
arrived in the
Bahamas in 1962
it was not all
going to be plain
sailing. Eileen and
I were scheduled to
be
married
in
November and her
father had planned to
have her called to the Bar in
the morning, take over The
Tribune in the afternoon and
get her married in the evening all in the space of one day! But
it was not to be. It was an election year and the newly formed
Progressive Liberal Party
(PLP) was making a big effort
to take over the Government
of the country. It was decided
that the wedding should be
G R O U P
O F
postponed to
avoid a conflict with the election.
❚SEE
Continued
Page 9on page 4
C O M P A N I E S
50
Congratulates
Eileen Dupuch Carron
Publisher & Editor, The Tribune Limit
For her significant
contributions to Bahamian
Journalism.
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THE TRIBUNE
My wonderful wife of many talents
❚FROM
From page
3 8
Page
NEW LAWYERS
I was so shocked by the antiforeign feeling in the country at
that time that I nearly packed
up to go back home. But we
weathered the storm and got
married in January 1963 and
have been happily married for
44 years.
It has not been an easy life.
We’ve had our ups and downs,
mainly brought on by issues
taken up by the newspaper that
has put it at odds with the governing powers. Because of Sir
Etienne’s anti-PLP stance I was
denied citizenship and did not
get my Bahamas Residency
with a right to work until 1992
when the Free National
Movement (FNM) won the
government under Hubert
Ingraham. During much of this
time I was able to assist my wife
at the newspaper working in
various
capacities
from
reporter, news editor and then
managing editor.
And during all those 20 years
the paper had to pay a work
permit for me every year except for one year when they
refused to renew it.
took to our beds to try to
recover and gain enough
strength to face another week.
This went on for several years.
We were unable to take a vacation but managed to enjoy
some long weekends with our
son during public holidays
when the paper was not published. We were fortunate to
have some very good friends
who were able to give our son
holidays that we couldn't
because we were unable to get
off from the newspaper.
Stress took its toll
The chronic stress eventually
took its toll, first on Eileen who
had to undergo surgery and
later myself, who just managed
to avoid a major heart attack. I
underwent open-heart surgery
that involved five by-passes.
My wife bravely came back
from her operation the next
day. I took a good six months of
recovery. But I'm happy to say
today that we've both reached
the age of 75 in physically good
health and have much to be
thankful for.
Most people have no idea
how a newspaper is published
every day. You are constantly
working against a deadline as
every section of the paper has
to be on the press at the
appointed time otherwise the
paper will be late, which can
affect your circulation and if
this becomes too regular you
could go out of business. But
WEDDING DAY
Life changed forever
After the PLP won the government of the country in 1967,
life as my wife and I knew it
changed forever. The newspaper became the target of
vicious political attacks and discrimination, denying us work
permits to employ foreign staff.
At that time all our staff had
degrees and several spoke
other languages. From that
time on we had to employ on
the job training for our local
staff who were untrained and
put out a daily newspaper at
the same time - no easy matter.
Several people who now enjoy
fine jobs outside the newspaper
can thank The Tribune for the
ROGER and Eileen Carron pictured on the day they announced their
engagement in London, 1961.
training they got mainly from
my wife.
After some years the PLP
softened their stance towards
the newspaper and allowed us
to bring in a journalism training
officer from England. We set
up a proper classroom and gave
training to most who applied to
join - not just Tribune
reporters. We also held evening
classes to get several of our
reporters through their GCE
English exams. It was during
this time without help that my
wife and I found ourselves
working round the clock to put
out the newspaper, and only
surviving by the help of her
mother, who made us bowls of
soup that we could eat at our
desks as we worked long hours
into the night. At weekends we
were both so exhausted that we
NEWLYWEDS - Roger and Eileen Carron walk down the aisle at St Francis
Xavier Catholic Cathedral in Nassau in January 1963 after their wedding ceremony. Bishop Leonard Hagarty, OSB, performed the ceremony.
every story that is printed in the
paper has to be written,
proofed and edited before it is
passed for publlication. And if
the story is not true, accurate
and balanced then the publisher and writer may have to suffer the consequences of the law,
which could mean an action in
court with costly damages. So
the important aspect of a newspaper publisher is that he must
be responsible. Unfortunately
today there are many who turn
a blind eye to their responsibilities in this regard.
For the past 35 years - since
1972,
a
year
before
Independence - my wife has not
only read every single major
story that has been published in
The Tribune, but she has also
done much of the editing of
front page stories, besides writing a daily editorial column that
tries to keep the government of
the day on its toes and true to
its promises to the Bahamian
people. Many people credit her
with helping to keep a balanced
and democratic form of government present in the Bahamas.
She has been honoured by the
Queen with a CMG and by the
Bahamian people with a gold
medal on the occasion of the
25th
anniversary
of
Independence in 1998 for services to the Bahamian people
through journalism.
It was at her father’s knee as
a young girl that Eileen was
introduced to the life of a newspaper man. She adored her
father, who among other
achievements was responsible
for breaking down racial barriers in public places in the
Bahamas in 1956. For this he
received the Mergenthaler
Award. But as he was seriously
ill at the time, Eileen was very
proud to accept the award on
his behalf and travelled to Cuba
where the Inter-American Press
was meeting that year - a year
before Castro took over the country.
❚SEE
Continued
Pageon
10page 5
November, 2007
The Tribune | 11
My wonderful
wife of
manyoftalents
My
wonderful
wife
manyWonderful
talents
wife
of
“She Never
many
Wanted To
Run The
talents
Tribune”
FROM
Page4 9
❚ From page
Her father holds the record in
the Guinness Book of Records
as the longest serving editor of
a newspaper (64 years) and also
has the unique distinction of
having gained three knighthoods, one from the Vatican,
one from the Knights of Malta
and one from the Haitian government.
A world figure
While her father was a world
figure who counted such notables
as
Lord
Louis
Mountbatten, Lord Beaverbrook, Sir Robert Neville, Sir
Ralph Grey, Lord Monckton
and Lord and Lady Ranfurly as
personal friends, my wife keeps
a much more modest and low
profile. Not one to boast of her
accomplishments she nevertheless has many to her credit.
EILEEN DUPUCH CARRON shown at
her call to the Bahamas Bar,
November 13, 1962. Thirteen has
been a lucky number for her and her
husband, Roger, also a lawyer. Both
born on the 13th.
she managed to do it all and
remain so calm and collected is
a wonder. Yet she did it and
remained a loving and caring
mother and wife.
Never wanted the
newspaper
My wife would be the first to
tell you that she never wanted
the newspaper. And, surprisingly enough, neither did her
father. But both have worn the
mantle of duty and put their
responsibility to the Bahamian
people above that of their own
considerations. Sir Etienne
lived out the promise he made
to his father and my wife has
done the same for her father.
Both made huge sacrifices in
the process. Once Sir Etienne
was offered a fabulous offer by
his friend Lord Beaverbrook to
go and work for him at his famous
Daily Express Newspaper in
England. He could have named
his price, but instead remained at
the helm of his father’s newspaper. He said he had a duty to his
Bahamian people.
Sir Etienne was a naturally
gifted writer and his editorials,
written in the first person,
became an institution in the
country. Often his thoughts
would run away with him and
he filled a whole page of his
newspaper. Most people loved
the stories he told of old
Nassau and especially when he
went on his many trips to distant lands. Many found his
writings educational and stimulating and often used to thank
him for giving them courage to
face the future.
After Eileen took over the
helm the editorials were shortened. It was not her father’s
style, but her own. She never
writes them in the first person.
But her trenchant leaders have
because of something that was
in the news and needed to be
dealt with. Although the criticism might have meant the loss
of the work permit, my wife
stood by her principles and
never compromised them.
In all the years we have been
running The Tribune I have
never seen my wife lose her
temper with any member of her
staff - although there have been
many times where she may well
have been justified in doing so.
That is not her style.
She never raises her voice to
anyone, but brings a cool head
to the knotty problems that any
businessman will tell you are
faced on a daily basis in the
Bahamas.
Staff members know that
their boss keeps an open door
for them and often counsels
them on personal and family
problems. She not only wins
their confidence and respect,
but also their love and loyalty.
The celebrated author
Arthur Hailey sometimes
wrote a note to Eileen complimenting her on some of her
editorials and I am constantly
amazed at her devotion to duty,
often at the expense of our own
family engagements.
Her reading interests are
wide and varied. And her
curiosity knows no bounds. The
other day she was puzzled as to
where the first recorded piece
of literature can be found. She
remembered reading some
time ago of “The Epic of
Gilgamesh” and that it was supposed to be the first recorded
literature of man. She could not
find it among her extensive
library of ancient histories of
civilization so she looked it up
on the Internet. This is what
she found, and it's fascinating.
Gilgamesh was an historical
king of Uruk in Babylonia, on
FIRST BAHAMIAN WOMAN PILOT
First lady: Learning to fly, called to
the Bar and making music history
PILOT EILEEN DUPUCH - shown in the pilot’s seat of an aircraft in Nassau after she became the first Bahamian
woman to earn a pilot's licence in the 1950s.
• She was the second woman
to be called to the Bahamas
Bar in 1962 - the first was the
late Mrs Patricia Cozzi. Today
my wife is the longest standing
and eldest woman on the roster
of the Bahamas Bar.
• She is the Bahamas’ second
woman newspaper publisher
in the history of the country
- the first was Miss Mary
Moseley of The Nassau
Guardian.
• She is the first CEO of a
radio station (100 Jamz) in
the Bahamas and the
Caribbean.
• She is the first Bahamian
woman to graduate from the
Columbia
School
of
Journalism in New York
City.
• She is the first Bahamian
woman to fly with the
Bahamas Flying Club. These
days she only flies as a commercial passenger.
• She is the only Bahamian to
have had her editorials read
into the US Senate record.
This was done at least twice
by Senator Bob Graham (D)
of Florida.
But besides editing and publishing The Tribune six days a
week, she also managed to be a
mother to our son Robert, run
the home, plan the meals, order
the food, do the laundry and a
myriad other chores that
housewives know have to be
done around the home when
you have young children. How
IN THE CHAIR - A happy moment for Eileen Carron as she sits in her father's
editorial chair at The Tribune.
won her many bouquets and
brickbats. She even won the
soubriquet of being dubbed
“The Iron Lady.” My wife does
not flinch from her responsibilities. Many times when the
newspaper had an application
for a work permit that was due,
she might find herself in the
invidious position of having to
criticise the government minister responsible for immigration
the River Euphrates in modern
Iraq, and lived about 4700
years ago. Many stories and
myths were written about
Gilgamesh, some of which were
written down on tablets about
4000 years ago in the Sumerian
language and in a script known as
cuneiform (which means
“wedge-shaped”).
❚ Continued on page 11
HISTORIC DAY
❚ From page 5
The tablets actually name the
author, Shineqi-unninni. So this
is the first known author in
recorded history. Quite a story
and quite a find by my wife!
So my wife printed out the
entire epic of nearly 80 pages.
And I have little doubt that she
will read it and get a story out
of it for one of her editorials in
the not too distant future. That
is the most amazing thing about
my wife. She never wastes a
minute of her life if she can
help it. She reads for enjoyment as well as for her general
knowledge. These days I will
do all the driving in town if we
have to go anywhere. She likes
this and because she doesn’t
like to sit and do nothing she
usually grabs a French grammar book and passes the time
by improving her French
vocabulary as we drive to the
office or downtown.
Nothing gives her greater
pleasure than sitting at home
with a good book and listening
to something from her extensive music library. She shuns
most television shows, but
enjoys news programmes and
PBS theatre shows.
From all that I have said you
may not gather that my wife is
also a very private person who
shuns publicity and will no
doubt be horrified that I have
disclosed all this information
about her in this manner. But
you may also gather that I am
very proud of her and our son
Robert, who not only brought
The Tribune into the computer
age after leaving Notre Dame
ON THE JOB - TRIBUNE EDITOR Eileen Carron seen talking to lawyer Sir
Orville Turnquest outside the House of Assembly when the newspaper was
called in by House Speaker Sir Clifford Darling in 1985 over a Tribune report
of House proceedings.
University but has kept the
newspaper on the cutting edge
of developments in the fastmoving technological age of
today.
The Tribune has been at the
forefront of newpspaper
advances and innovatons in the
country, largely in recent times
thanks to our son Robert. But
it may also be worth recording
some of the achievements of
the newspaper in its 104 year
history. (See separate story)
One that is worth recording
is that The Tribune can claim
the honour of being the first
newspaper outside of the
United States to go entirely
Macintosh computer operated
and only the second newspaper
plant in Mac history. This was
all thanks to our son Robert
who had initiated the move
while he was still a student at
Notre Dame University.
Wednesday, March 16th, 2016, PAGE 11
THE TRIBUNE
A side of our mother
that’s rarely seen....
HONOURABLE
JANET BOSTWICK
First Female Attorney General
First Women elected to Parliament
Partner at Bostwick & Bostwick
1962 was that year in which Eileen
Dupuch Carron became the editor
of The Tribune, became the second
woman to be called to The Bahamas
Bar and became the first Bahamian
female pilot. Her achievements were
almost mind boggling to me, then private secretary to the Attorney General, who was keenly interested in the
accomplishments of this diminutive lady who had burst on the Bahamian scene and shattered glass ceiling after glass ceiling before you
could get your mind around the first event.
Mary Moseley, the only
female publisher of a newspaper, had been off the scene
for sometime ….. an historical figure to me. There was
no other female editor. Patrica Cozzi had been called
to the Bar, but she was not
generally well known …..
and then there was Eileen
Dupuch Carron who came
to our attention firstly as a
newspaper personality and
almost simultaneously as
female lawyer.
The Dupuch family was
very well known. Everyone
knew, or knew of, Eileen’s
father, Etienne Dupuch, publisher/editor of The Tribune,
the evening paper which
enjoyed the widest circulation of any newspaper in
The Bahamas;
Etienne
Dupuch, the politician, the
fearless crusader against racial discrimination. In legal
circles, her uncle the famed
litigator and advocate, Eugene Dupuch, was one of
the most esteemed jurists of
our time. Not only was he
renowned as a lawyer, but
he also enjoyed the reputation of being The Bahamas’
leading satirical writers
with his stories of the celebrated “Smokey Joe” which
afforded my family and so
very many other Bahamians
side splitting laughter and
enjoyment.
Now there was the Dupuch daughter, returning
home after years of study in
Canada, in New York and
in England; having gained
experience working under
an Associated Press editor
in the United Nations; an
experienced journalist who
was also a lawyer. The Bahamas was watching and
the expectations were high!
No one has been disappointed. It is true to say
that Eileen Dupuch Carron
has surpassed the expectations of most in the excep-
tional manner in which she
maintained the high standard of journalism set by her
father; and, has expanded
the Tribune media business
to become the greatest media house in our country. It
is most fitting that both she
and her late father were internationally
recognized
and honoured by the International Press Institute (IPI)
World Congress in Trinidad
and Tobago in 2012 and
were saluted for
“extraordinary and
remarkable courage under
most difficult conditions,
for their lifetime dedication to the freedom of the
press st them as global flag
bearers for the principes
of integrity, justice and
human rights.”
Unlike her father and
brothers, Eileen Dupuch
Carron never sought political office. She is, however,
one of the most astute ‘politicians’ of this Bahamas,
and, for more than five decades, has most consistently
championed the struggle
against injustice, corruption, victimization all the
while supporting the fight
for integrity, transparency
and accountability in government. She has fought
relentlessly, for equality and
for freedom of the press.
Always remaining true to
The Tribune’s motto, “Being bound to swear to the
dogmas of no master”, Mrs.
Carron has at all times been
in the forefront of the fight
for good governance. Her
articles are so powerful and
so masterfully written that
both friend and foe and are
compelled to read them.
Her recall is legendary and
with her propensity for in-
tricate research; her editorial commentary is feared by
those who would rather forget
previous actions or statements;
which are inconsistent with
positions currently taken.
She has encouraged fearless
and investigative reporting,
which seeks to bring all sides
of issues to readers, so as to
ensure dissemination of correct information. She, even at
this age, is not; past personally
investigating matters of national concern. The consummate investigative journalist,
as you speak with her, you are
aware that her eyes are still
piercing and probing so that
she sees not only your facial
features and expressions, but
she reads your soul.
Such insight is but one of
the attributes which makes her
an extraordinarily gifted journalist who now enjoys the singular distinction of being the
longest ever serving Editor &
Publisher, having almost surpassed the world record of fifty-four years set by her father.
Additionally, Mrs. Carron
has been a great inspiration to
women of The Bahamas. She
stands out as the leading editor/publisher of our time. She
has trained many leading journalists in our country. Women
are proud that she smashed the
glass ceiling in the Bahamas
in aviation. She has been an
excellent example as a devout
Christian, a loyal and supportive wife and a good mother.
The Bahamas is proud of
our Eileen Dupuch Carron.
We thank her, because she has
dared to fight fiercely against
‘everything which diminished
or was unfair to Bahamian
people’ she had made The Bahamas a better place!
MOST PEOPLE know Eileen Dupuch Carron as a crusading journalist,
lawyer, an uncompromising defender of the truth, a champion of the
downtrodden, a no nonsense, highly
intelligent, talented woman. We
know her very differently. She is our
mother, an amazing artist, musician, and someone who learns languages to put herself to sleep at midnight. And, oh yeah... she’s our boss!
It’s the otherside of Mrs C that’s
rarely seen by many except The Tribune family and friends.
The fact she’s so caring about others that on
occasion over the years she has asked me to
bail some of our DJ’s out over various indiscretions. On one occassion the Inspector on
Duty at Central Police station asked me, “How
many blackchildren ya ma get!” “Many” I
replied! What truly makes mum amazing:is
her unconditional love, dedication, and unselfishness, accepting our good with our failings;
day in day out. Perhaps it’s her Catholic faith
in God; or steadfast belief in the principles of
honestly, integrity, perseverance and hard
w o r k
which
she has
honed a n d
sometimes,
w h e n
necess a r y,
h a m mered
into me
from a
small age.Perhaps it’s her love for education,
her belief in uplifting oneself no matter the
circumstances; and of course her amazing
ability to put into perspective history so that I
could understand, and avoid, a repeat of the
mistakes of the past. I’ve often told my wife
that when I was at University studying my
politicalscience degree I would buy 2 sets of
books: one for me and one for my mum. Naturally I wouldn’t tell a soul who the second set
was for but she would read them in her spare
timewhile running The Tribune and taking
care of
m y g ra n d m o t h e r a n d d a d .
Yet
although I was studying full time invariably
Iwas always a number of chapters behind her
and she was constantly telling me to pick up
the pace!! Perhaps one of
mum’s most endear
ing attributes is the
way in which she has
accepted Lizzie into our
family; and how closedly
they have bonded.
We wish to congratulate you on your historic
milestones. You have
always been there even
under the darkest days
You truly are a trailblaz er and have been an
inspiration for not only Lizzie and me but
hundreds of other Bahamian men and women. Mum in fact it can be said that this institution today is a reflection of the lengthening
of yours and dad’s shadow. To most Bahamians you are the Bahamas’ Greatest Warriorwith a Pen. But to Lizzie and me, you’re the
best mother any daughter, son or grandson
could ever want.
Photo vs Painting
We love you with all our heart!
Lizzie, Robert & Little Man
We congratulate
and celebrate you.
Hon. Janet G. Bostwick ,
Tribune Publishing Giants honoured
PORT OF SPAIN, – Sir fairs Ministry of Trinidad current serving
Etienne Dupuch, editor and and Tobago, and attended editor/publisher
publisher of The Tribune by hundreds of delegates, of a newspaper
for 54 years and current Ms Thomas said that the in the world.
Tribune editor/publisher IPI Board noted that it was “And so in a
Eileen Dupuch Carron time to honour “the mem- very real sense
were honoured Monday ory of an extraordinary this special ciby the International Press man..a man who was edi- tation also goes
Institute (IPI) based in tor for 54 years of the Nas- to her – not just
Vienna, Austria for their sau Tribune securing him a as the daughter
extraordinary remarkable slot in the Guinness Book of Sir Etienne,
courage, integrity, dedica- of Records as the world’s but as the retion and lifetime of fighting longest serving editor.” cord
setting
social injustices, and de- “His life and legacy re- flag bearer of
fending press freedom. Sir main an inspiration for his principles,
Etienne was given a spe- defenders of press free- dedication and
cial citation posthumously dom and journalists every- integrity,” Ms
as the longest serving edi- where,” Ms Thomas said. Thomas said.
tor in history. He was edi- “In fact, just a couple of Sir
Etienne
tor of The Tribune for 54 weeks after the IPI an- joined the Inyears and was knighted by nounced its intention to ternational
three different countries. honour Sir Etienne came Press Institute based in ViIn making the announcement
at
IPI’s 63rd Annual
World
Congress
“ Today, his fearless daughter is at our
Awards
Dinner
held on Monday
helm. Despite the intimidation and
at the Hyatt Rethreats we receive; the denial and/or
gency Hotel, Portof-Spain, Trinidad,
revoking of work permits for our key
Ms Dawn Thomas,
staff; the refusal by the former PLP govt
IPI Board member, told the hunto issue our passports for more than
dreds of delegates
25 years coupled with excluding The
representing media companies 82
Tribune from bidding on government
countries that their
“extraordinary and
contracts, we prevailed. The crusade
remarkable courfor truth, honestly and freedom will
age under most difficult conditions,
never die.”
for their lifetime
dedication to the
freedom of the
press set them as
global flag bearers for the the 55th anniversary of his enna, Austria in mid-1960
principles of integrity, jus- daughter Eileen Dupuch and died at the age of 92.
tice and human rights.” Carron’s entry into jour- The Tribune was launched
In presenting the award to nalism and her 50th anni- by his father Leon Dupuch
Mrs Caron at the dinner, versary as editor/publisher in 1903 under the slogan
hosted by the Foreign Af- making her the longest “Being Bound to Swear to
CYNTHIA PRATT
Former Deputy PM &
Acting Prime Minister
the Dogmas of No Master.”
The newspaper was envisioned to serve all society.
“Sir Etienne kept these
principles alive; his
editorials on social justice and freedom of the
press were influential,”
Ms Thomas added.
“He also served in the
Bahamas House of Assembly for 31 years
where he acted as a catalyst for civil rights…
proposing a resolution
to ban racial discrimination in public places
in Parliament in 1956.
When informed of the
decision to honour Sir
Etienne and asked to
give a statement on his
achievements, his daughter said that her father
was such a giant “He
was so passionate about a
free press that he was willing and in fact did.. suffer
great financial losses over
the years…However, in
the end, he was vindicated.
Mrs. Eileen Dupuch
Carron is an exceptional woman of incredible
strength, generosity,
character and a heart
of gold that loves her
country.
Her contribution to the
development of the Commonwealth of the Bahamas is immeasurable in every dynamic,
which she has contributed to
many of the works in the inner
city tremendously and to every sector of the community, in
addition of standing up for the
rights of progress throughout
the history of her professional
career. She is distinguished.
It is important for us to know
that there are women in
Leadership Role like her that
stands out. It speaks volumes
not only here but internationally of what she has accomplished especially being the
longest serving Publisher recognized throughout the world.
Thousands of Thousands of
people and children through-
out the inner city throughout
the years have been helped by
her whether they may know it
or not through her charitable
spirit. And to that, I honor her
for being there for me and my
people throughout the community and society.
Cynthia “ Mother” Pratt
March 15th,2016
PAGE
March
and unflinching support of
know 12,
whatWednesday
lay in store
for16th,
in 2016
a little Pennsylvania town. have seen her family sacri- ahead.
THE TRIBUNE
tion.
CALLED TO THE BAHAMAS BAR
ON BEING CALLED TO THE BAR - Eileen Carron is shown with members of the Bahamas Bar in November 1962.
Seated from left: the Hon. Eugene Dupuch, QC, her uncle and sponsor, Mrs Carron, Chief Justice Ralph Campbell,
Attorney General L.A.W. Orr and the Hon. Godfrey Higgs.
Standing from left: Godfrey Kelly, Harry Sands, Mrs Patricia Cozzi (first Bahamian woman called to the Bar, Mrs
Carron was the second), Dawson Roberts, Geoffrey Johnstone (now Sir Geoffrey), Court Bailiff
Arthur Parrish, Orville Turnquest, QC (now Sir Orville and later Governor-General), Kendal Isaacs, QC (later Sir
Kendal and Attorney General), Peter Christie, Leonard Knowles, (later Sir Leonard and a Chief Justice) and Mervyn
Johnson.
‘She like her father
before her is a
National Treasure’
For instance, I am intimately familiar with
her commitment to the principle of freedom
of expression. I have been on air with the
Tribune Radio Group since 1993. I am most
certain that she must have fielded many
calls complaining about my near, to slightly
over the line commentary over those many
years. Only once did I receive a call from
Eileen Carron and that was to advise me not
to cross the libel line. As she is probably
the most knowledgeable member of the bar
on the subject, I did not hesitate to take her
advice.
She is not what I would call a recluse, but
regretfully her commitment to the Tribune
keeps her away from the “social” scene, but
not so far away that she is not aware of what
I have known of Eileen Carron since I
knew how to read, but I came to know her
in person commencing in 1982, when she
unemotionally advised me that I was not
quite ready to be a reporter for the Tribune.
She was probably right, so I never took it
personally and I am pleased today to consider her to be a great friend.
A friend that I can row with over the
many things we differ in opinion on, but
one who I respect, value and love as an example of what it means to be principled.
is going on in every sphere of our community.
I am one of the fortunate ones, because I
know the humorous, witty, and compassionate sides of Eileen Carron that are usually
shrouded by her devotion to journalistic
professionalism.
Finally it almost seems premature to celebrate this particular milestone, as there
does not seem to be an end in sight. How
does one forward congratulations for the
many years to come.
She, like her father before her, is a
‘National Treasure’.
Ed Fields
Sr. Vice-President, Atlantis
THE TRIBUNE
When the little lady
defied a drug lord
By Athena Damianos
By Athena Damianos
THE DOOR
Former
Tribuneburst open.
In marched a hulk of a notoNews
Editor
rious drug
traffickers, a couple
She had a strong sense of
ficker
wasand,
a mean
few
justice
likeman.
her A
father,
Sir Etienne,
up forfled
the
weeks
earlier,stood
his rival
downtrodden.
Freeport
and sneaked into The
She expected loyalty from
Tribune
pleading
forloyal
help.in reher staff
and was
turn.
Every hair had been singed
Shehead
wasand
a stickler
propoff his
eyelidsfor
with
an
er English.
acetylene
torch.
His
face
was
One day the Speaker, the
burned
and Clifford
hideously scarred.
late Sir
Darling,
took
umbrage
at an article
He
feared
for his life.
IHe
wrote.
strenuously
obwas He
running
from the
jected to the characterisation
strapping
trafficker who now
that he blustered.
stood
thenot
newsroom
“I in
did
bluster!”with
he his
declared.balding sidekick.
skinny,
Armed
withstrutted
a copy to
ofthe
the
The
trafficker
Oxford Dictionary, Mrs.
editor’s
desk,
towered
over
Carron called on him at ParEileen
Carron
liament
to go and
over demanded
the definitionThe
of “bluster.”
that
Tribune cease writing
In spite
of him.
the tough
extearticles
about
Boasting
rior, she had a heart of gold,
providing jobs to the disadabout
political
anda
vantaged
– aconnections
blind typist,
deaf pressman,
recovering
protection,
he a arrogantly
addict.
sought
to intimidate the editor.
Mrs Carron was more than
He
an threatened
employer. to have The
She trained
me in the
intriTribune
shut down.
Fingers
cacies
of
libel
law.
stopped typing in the newsIn 1987, pregnant with
room
all eyes
turned
on the
my as
first
child,
I covered
disgusting
duo. sittings of the
the morning
House
of Assembly.
Mrs. Carron
slowly rose to
The
Tribune
wasfive
an foot,
afterher feet, pulled her
noon paper at the time. My
two
inch
frame
fully
upright
job was to race back to the
and
faced theand
big bully
squarenewsroom
pound
out a
ly.summary of the high points
of
the dare
morning
underinto
the
‘How
you come
pressure of deadline.
TheAlthough
Tribune toI try
to
intimididn’t comdate
myMrs
staff!’
she scolded.
plain,
Carron
sensed my
weariness
in my
third
She lectured
them
ontrimestheir
ter when
intensethem
heatofof
manners
andthe
reminded
summer set in.
Once I’d handed in my
The
Tribune’s
motto – me
‘Being
copy,
she’d bundle
into
the cool
air oftoathe
back
room
Bound
to Swear
Dogmas
and make me nap in Sir
ofEtienne’s
No Master.’
easy chair, his plaid
The trafficker
taken
blanket
tucked was
around
my
knees.
aback.
Once
in amet
while,
went
He’d
never
the we
spunky
on assignment together.
editor
andinvolved
was shocked
to find
One
an interview
the
woman
of steel was
so
with
the American
smuggler, the
Barber.
petite.
He late
triedFrank
again.
She
Barber
sneered
at an
stood
herrudely
ground.
He gaped
elderly Bahamian lawyer
like
a
grouper.
He
stuttered.
who was present and disHe
apologised.
Hea and
missed
him with
“shuthis
up
old man!”
flunky
slunk out of the newsEileen
promptly
room,
tails Carron
tucked between
chastised him and made him
their
legs.
apologise to the lawyer.
Wordlessly,
Mrs. Carron
Athena Damianos
worked
at The Tribune
for 24
years
returned
to her word
procesas a reporter and national
sor.
She
had
a
paper
to
put
out.
news editor)
of flunkies bringing up the rear.
Eileen
Carronthe
coolly
It
was during
‘80s looked
- the
up
from
her
keyboard.
height of The Cocaine Wars.
“Are you Mrs Carron?” he
The drug trade permeated
demanded.She
nodded. the
fabric
and the
“You ofall society
better stop
writing
about was
me known
or else….”
He
Bahamas
as ‘A
warned,
boasting
he
had
politiNation for Sale.’ Corruption
cal connections and he’d have
snaked
its wayshut
through
the law
The
Tribune
down.
enforcement
and into
She slowlyagencies
rose from
her
chair,
all fiveOn
feet
two inches
the Cabinet.
Norman’s
Cay,of
her,
and looked
at him in
sternly.
DAME EUGENIA CHARLES, the late Prime Minister of Dominica and a longa jewel
of an island
the
“How dare you come into
time friend of the Dupuch family who attended Toronto University with
secluded
Exumas,
the
notoriThe Tribune and try to intimiEileen’s uncle, the Hon. Eugene Dupuch, QC, shown with Lady Dupuch (seatous
neo-Nazi
trafficker
Carlos
date my staff!” she scolded and
ed) and (standing l-r) Roger and Eileen Carron and their son Robert, now
proceeded
to lecture
him about
Lehder flew
the Colombian
president of The Tribune. A painting of Eileen’s father, the late Sir Etienne
his
Dupuch is shown in background.
flagmanners.
over his drug empire.
His face crumpled. He
When
lawmaker
Norman
turned around and skulked
Solomon
protested
out,
his flunkies
behind him.in
Wordlessly,
turned
Parliament,
his she
house
and back
car
to her keyboard.
were
firebombed.
No-one
was
It was the 1980s. This is my
safe. A retired
American
favourite
Eileen
Carron pilot
story.
Mrs.
Carron
brook
nonand his
wife didn’t
– in the
wrong
sense.
set high
place atShe
the wrong
timestandards
– were
and pushed her reporters to
murdered
their
sailboat She
in
live
up to on
their
potential.
the
Exumas.
Magistrates
hearinvested heavily in training.
suffered.
ingAnd
drugshe
cases
woke upOh,
late how
at
she
her sound
husband,
Roger,
nightand
to the
of bullets
suffered under the Pindling
spraying their homes. People
regime.
disappeared.
Drug
The long work
hoursmoney
– from
10am
until 2am – with
floodedoften
the islands.
Immigration
used as a tool
in a
One Independence
Day,
futile attempt to silence her by
American $100
bills rained
withholding
Mr Carron’s
work
over the Clifford Park cerepermit.
Ironically,
sometimes
was
monies
with leaflets
urgingitthe
the
shift they punDEAgraveyard
to go home.
ished her with that brought in
The
Tribune
fighting
an
the
hottest
tips.was
The
late night
often lonely
the
phones
callsbattle
fromagainst
the frightened
old woman
trade which,
in manywhispering
respects,
down the phone line.
setThe
the stage
for
today’s
violent
armed Colombians
society.
had locked down a side road
offEileen
Mackey
St again
were
Carron
was inand
the edigoing
doorwith
to her
door,husband,
looking
tor’s chair
for someone who had double
Roger, the
managing
editor,
crossed
them.
People were
hidworking
alongside
her
in a
ing under their beds in terror.
“We’re hostile
too scared
to call
politically
environment.
the
For God’s
sake,
It police.
was against
this backsomebody help us,” the woman
groundplead.
that a well-known local
would
trafficker
swaggered
into Thein LORD LOUIS MOUNTBATTEN - uncle to Queen Elizabeth, shares a joke with his friend and host Sir Etienne Dupuch at the East Hill Club when Lord Louis launched a drive to set up a Foundation
Mrs Carron
was fearless
locally to send two Bahamians annually as students to the United World Colleges being set up by Lord Mountbatten throughout the world. Sir Etienne was successful in setting up a Bahama
her
fightnewsroom
against corruption
Tribune
one day,
Foundation. Shown (I-r): Roger Carron, Lord Mountbatten, Sir Etienne and Lady Dupuch and Eileen Dupuch Carron. (Photo: Stanley Toogood)
and
victimisation.
flanked by his flunky. This traf-
THE TRIBUNE
PAGE 16, Wednesday March 16th, 2016
Bahamas Press Club
Lifetime Achievement
Eileen Dupuch Carron
THE TRIBUNE
THE TRIBUNE
Thank You for making it “Better
In The Bahamas!”
EILEEN,
Please accept my congratulations and those of the entire firm
of Higgs & Johnson on receiving your most recent award, the
Lifetime Achievement Award
and for being recognized
as the ‘world’s longest
serving Editor & Publisher.
It has been a privilege to have known and
worked with you for
more than 40 years, During that time, you have
earned my profound respect and admiration. It
is, of course, impossible
for me to describe you
in one word; but if I were
forced to do so, I would
have to choose the word
“fearless”.
In my earliest dealings
with you, it became clear
to me that are a woman
of the utmost integrity.
I applaud you for your
fearless and independent-minded approach in
discharging your duties as editor and publisher of The Tribune. You have always strived
for excellence and dedicated
and committed yourself to the
highest standards of journalism.
You have been pivotal to maintaining a free press in the Bahamas and to deterring social and
political injustice. And you have
always strived to make The Bahamas, your native land, a better
place for all of us. It is reported
that you once said: “We all want
a better country. To achieve that
we have to demand zero toler-
ance of wrongdoing. And what
better place to start than at the
top? Our leaders have to set an
example, and we have to stop
making excuses for them.”
Thank you for your tireless efforts in this regard.
Philip Dunkley QC.
It has always been clear from
your actions and words that your
ultimate goal has been a free
press and a robust democracy.
On the occasion of Sir Etienne’s
posthumous recognition as the
longest serving editor and publisher in the world, you may recall that you said this:
“No matter what is said about
these islands at least we can
be proud that today we have a
robust democracy with a free
press.”
I know that you must be proud
that you were largely responsi-
ble for both.
I choose the word
“fearless” to describe
you because, without
this quality, I doubt
whether you would
have been able to
achieve your extraordinary successes. The
publication of the truth
is not always welcomed by all. Some
who do not welcome
the publication of the
truth use threats and
retribution to deter
or alter publication
of the truth. And I
know that, during
the course of your
career, you received
many threats to you
and your family and
you suffered many
acts of retribution in
attempts by others
to silence or change
“the truth”. Your reaction was always
the same: you maintained your course
without fear of the
threats or retribution. I have always
felt proud to be involved with a person of such fearless
integrity.
The
Bahamas
owes a deep debt of gratitude to
you. Thank you for your tireless efforts in maintaining a
free press and a robust democracy in The
Bahamas. And for your veritable fight against social and
political injustice. You are a true
matriarch of our beloved Bahamas.
And through your work in
journalism, the media and your
charitable pursuits, you have made
an outstanding and meaningful
contribution to nation building in
The The Bahamas. I would like
to express my gratitude to you for
truly
making it “better in The Bahamas”. And I hope that that we
may expect your fearless contribution to continue for many years to
come.
Philip Dunkley QC.
Global Managing Partner
Higgs & Johnson
Under pressure from
the Pindling regime
THE
PAGE
TRIBUNE
18 Wednesday March 16th, 2016THE
Wednesday March 16th,
TRIBUNE
2016, PAGE 18
By EILEEN CARRON
CLOSE The Tribune down and
kick Sir Etienne Dupuch out,
shouted an angry PLP backbencher in the House of Assembly on
February 26, 1969.
Bitter politics had dissolved
friendships. George Thompson, of
Gregory Town, once a great
admirer of Sir Etienne, who often
sent the crusading editor pineapples from his farm in Eleuthera,
was now the PLP MP for Central
Eleuthera in the House of Assembly.
Calling Sir Etienne, “a feebleminded man who is like a bull in a
china closet”, Mr Thompson
wanted to know whether Sir Etienne wanted press freedom to
destroy the country.
Mr Thompson was riled over a
statement Sir Etienne was alleged
to have made to newspaper colleagues in Miami who were honouring him on his fiftieth year as
Tribune editor. He was the guest
speaker. Sir Etienne was accused
of telling the press that he feared
the spread of Communism in the
Bahamas. This was not true.
However, at that time, because
of the situation in Cuba, there was
great concern about communism
spreading throughout the Caribbean, and so when it was time for
questions, a newsman asked Sir
Etienne if he thought communism
was getting a foothold in the
Bahamas. “I don’t believe we have
any communist cells in the Bahamas,” Sir Etienne replied.
As a matter of fact, although
highly critical of local affairs in his
editorial columns in The Tribune,
it was a matter of pride with him
that he never spoke ill of his country abroad.
The accusation against Sir Etienne was made by Prime Minister
Lynden Pindling in a morning
newscast over ZNS. Although,
The Tribune published Sir Etienne’s Miami speech in full, Sir
Lynden never retracted his accusations.
And so the era of lies, half
truths and victimisation began.
In fact it was over lies that The
Tribune and the PLP came to a
parting of the ways very early in
the life of that party.
After his own defeat and that
of his party, the Bahamas Democratic League, in the 1956 general
election, Sir Etienne “felt and
hoped that perhaps the PLP was
the answer to the needs of the
people.”
The first real clash between
the PLP and newly formed UBP
came over the appointment of
Boards.
It was the prerogative of the
Governor to appoint Boards without consulting anyone. The UBP
now demanded the right to select
the Boards for the Governor. The
issue was taken to England. Governor Sir Raynor Arthur and the
Attorney General went to the
Colonial Office. So did a delegation from the PLP armed with
letters of introduction from Sir
Etienne. The PLP were surprised
to find the kind of influence The
Tribune had at the Colonial
Office.
The London meetings resulted
in a victory for the Governor and
the PLP.
On the delegation’s return to
Nassau, Sir Etienne was highly
praised by the PLP in Cyril Stevenson’s newspaper, The Herald,
the party’s mouthpiece.
However, when the PLP delegates called a meeting on the
Southern Recreation Grounds to
report on their London meeting,
for some inexplicable reason Sir
Lynden misrepresented the role
that the Governor had played in
helping them at the Colonial
Office.
“This alarmed me,” Sir Etienne wrote in Tribune Story. “I
began to look at this group more
closely and realised that I could
not be associated with the PLP
and said so in my paper. Immediately The Herald went into reverse
in its opinion of me. From that
day until it finally folded, I
became its favourite bone and it
gnawed at me constantly — without effect, of course.”
And so, when the PLP became
the government, The Tribune, and
the man who, at great personal
sacrifice, had opened public doors
for them in 1956, became Public
Enemy No. 1. The PLP government spent its 25 years in power
making it difficult for The Tribune
to operate.
The House of Assembly was
told that because Sir Etienne and
his Tribune were public enemies,
government would no longer put
the Government Gazette for the
publication of public notices out
to tender.The Gazette was eventually awarded to The Guardian,
which meant that not only did The
Tribune get no government business, but private businesses, such
as law firms, banks and trust companies, which by law had to publish annual financial statements
and other legal documents in the
Gazette newspaper were forced to
go to The Guardian. This meant
that The Tribune lost not only government business, but also a large
chunk of private business. The
Guardian took advantage of its
monopoly by raising its advertising
rates to the private sector. No one
liked it — least of all the lawyers
who knew they were being taken
advantage of — but no one could
do anything about it. The Tribune as
Public Enemy No. 1 was earmarked for extinction.
In 1969 Sir Etienne called on
the Inter-American Press Association, of which he was a long-standing member, for support. The
Tribune was protesting the controversial Powers and Privileges
Bill, which gave both houses of
Parliament the power to punish
a reporter for false or misleading
reports of proceedings without
redress to any court of law.
Under international pressure,
Government backed down and
amended the offending section
of the Bill.
This was before the days of Hansard — the official record of what
is said in the House — when PLP
House members would make foolish statements on the floor. On
reading in cold print what they had
said and realising how ridiculous it
sounded they would always blame
the reporter for having “misquoted” them.
It was like skating on thin ice
reporting the House in those days
— one never knew when the ice would
crack and the reporter would fall in.
And with no Hansard to pull him out
and no redress to the courts — under
the proposed Powers and Privileges Bill
— he or she would have been at the
mercy of a hostile House and Senate.
It was almost impossible to report
public affairs in the PLP era — until, of
course, the government started to
unravel from within. It was then that
Reporting the
House was like
skating on thin ice
disillusioned PLPs turned to The Tribune
almost daily with news “leaks”.
However, up until then, to put The
Tribune “to bed” with news was an
uphill battle. The one advantage was
that it made Tribune reporters tough and
resourceful — especially when they
were being threatened.
In 1986 after he had left government
service, in a letter to The Tribune, Mr
Cyril Stevenson told the story of how
information was withheld from The Tribune.
He said that while he was Government Information Officer (1970 to 1985)
he had received specific instructions
from the Prime Minister’s Office — and
other ministries — that he was to delay
giving news releases to The Tribune. In
fact, he said, “some of the information
was never made available to The Tribune.”
But Sir Lynden was a bold one. From
a public platform on the night of September 8, 1983, when NBC’s drug
accusations were closing in on his
government, he announced that he
was taking a group of newsmen,
including an NBC representative, to
Norman’s Cay to prove to them that
whatever might have been going on
at that island had been greatly exaggerated. Certainly, if there had been
anything, it had long since ceased.
However, he announced, no Tribune representative would be allowed
to go, because NBC and The Tribune
were “in this thing together — they are
one.” At this point no one at The Tribune
knew anyone at NBC. We had collaborated on nothing.
However, because The Tribune had
grown so accustomed to being shut out
of the news, we had developed excellent
outside sources. While press representatives, including NBC, were tramping
around empty, sanitised hangers at Norman’s Cay, Tribune editor Eileen Carron
Sir Lynden Pindling
was busy in Nassau contacting her
sources and putting together an article
that would beat them all — and make
their on-site stories look like what Sir
Lynden intended them to be — a whitewash.
The Tribune article included interviews with American and Canadian
residents who told of being “invaded by
tough-looking, Spanish-speaking
Colombians, whose suspicious ways,
anti-social behaviour, and vicious dogs,
eventually drove them out”.
The Tribune reported that “between
1979 and 1980 there were about 50
Colombians on the island. And, it was
said, by 1980 at the height of the ‘business’, at least 11,000 kilos of cocaine,
translated into hundreds of millions of
dollars, was being shipped through the
island.
“If a resident dared go to the police
about the strange happenings — small
planes coming and going, cigarette
boats darting in and out at all hours,
unleashed Doberman Pinschers roaming the island at night — his home was
torn to pieces.
In one home, The Tribune was told,
the ‘wall paper was ripped from the
walls, the plumbing fixtures were torn
out…it really looked as though it had
been hit by a bomb’.”
*****
Keeping The Tribune alive
The family was severly victimized under former the PLP
mits of his foreign
staff. He could not
afford to take the
chance.
This was not an
isolated case.
Denied government business, and
all of the business
from banks and
lawyers’ offices,
the PLP government was now trying to shut down
other private sector advertising to
The Tribune.
That was one
side of the coin
with which The Tribune had to do
battle. But there
was the flip-side
that was always
baffling.
Under the Pindling administration The Tribune
was fighting discrimination in
reverse. Before the
PLP was the government and the
black man was the
ROGER Peter Carron, Tribune’s Managing Director
underdog, The Tribune was called
“the black newspaper.”
Now that the PLP was in
FTER that lengthy article, Sir Lynden was
probably sorry that The Tribune was not power and the white man was
included on the Norman’s Cay trip, if only the victim, The Tribune sudto keep it away from its own “deep throats” of denly became “the white
newspaper.”
information.
No one understood The
A few weeks later Mrs Carron telephoned the
NBC producers in Washington, and told them that Tribune. Nor did anyone
The Tribune and NBC were being accused by the seem to want to understand
what it stood for. It certainly
Prime Minister of
being collaborators
in a conspiracy
against his government. She suggested
that as “collaborators” it might be a
good idea for them
to at least say “hello”. This was the
beginning of a warm
friendship, and a
regular and beneficial exchange of
information. Much
of the information
was good for background, but too hot
for publication.
A
****
Before the PLP came
to power The Tribune
was called “the black
newspaper.” Now that
the PLP was in power
The Tribune suddenly
became “the white
newspaper.”
ONE DAY Tribune Advertising
Manager H R
“Rusty” Bethel
called through to
Mrs Carron’s office
to invite her to come across to his. He wanted her
to hear a conversation he was having with a foreign manager of a local hotel. The manager did
not know the speaker phone had been engaged
and that Mrs Carron was sitting in the room with
Mr Bethel.
Calling the name of a certain PLP “general”,
who seemed to have quite a bit of influence
around the hotels in those days, the manager was
very apologetic. He said his hotel would like to
advertise with The Tribune, but he had been
threatened by the “general” that if it did it would
mean not only his work permit, but the work per-
did not stand for colour. It
stood for justice and fairplay,
and regardless of the colour
of a man’s skin, if he were
being taken advantage of,
The Tribune was at his side.
It was natural that The Tribune would expect businesses owned by the white community to at least support it
with their advertising. Many
of them did — and they were
staunchly loyal. But there
were those who didn’t. One
of them explained it this way:
“I always send my news to
The Tribune, because everyone buys The Tribune for its
news, but I advertise with
The Guardian, because people buy The Guardian to read
the ads”!
It seemed dumb logic. As
though a person who bought
a newspaper for news would
not also read its advertising.
In this hostile political
atmosphere, and with this
type of thinking among certain business people, it was a
miracle that The Tribune survived the 25-year Pindling
administration.
****
BUT the PLP had a secret
weapon, tucked securely
behind the scenes from public view. And it was this
secret weapon that it used
without conscience to control
many businesses, including
the banks in returns came in.
They knew by the returns
what polling stations had
been tampered with. The
FNM was crushed.
Sir Etienne and his daughter, in view of the Immigration problems, especially of
his son-in-law, had discussed
selling The Tribune and leaving the Bahamas. That night
the die was cast. They would
sell.
And it was in that Miami
hotel room that the 73-yearold crusading editor’s mantle
was transferred to the shoulders of his 42-year-old
daughter.
The next morning, leaving
their three-year-old son,
Robert, in Miami with his
grandparents, they flew back
to Nassau. Not to carry on,
but to sell. They commuted
between Nassau and Miami
for about a week, before
bringing their young son
home and settling down to
manage The Tribune until a
sale could be negotiated.
Because of The Tribune’s
work permit problems, it
was decided that Sir Etienne
would continue writing the
daily editorial column, but
would have nothing more to
do with The Tribune.
The Carrons found an
excellent buyer, a family that
owned banks and newspapers. Their main concern
was that the new owners
would take care of The Tribune staff — many of whom
had never worked anywhere
else —with the same consideration to which they were
accustomed.
Letters were written to
Prime Minister Pindling, with
the new buyers making certain offers to government
that should have been attractive. However, their letters
were not answered.
Mrs Carron made an
appointment to meet with Sir
Lynden. At that time, Mr
Carron had applied for a
three year work permit, but
had had no reply.
Mrs Carron told Sir Lynden that she and her husband
were tired of the games being
played by the Cabinet with
their lives. She said they had
no intention of suffering any
further indignities. They
wanted some early answers,
so they could pack their bags
and leave.
At some point the status
of their baby son, who had
been born in Miami, came
up.
Sir Lynden got up from his
desk, walked over to a bookcase, and touched a large
blue-backed folder. “Don’t
worry,” he said, “we are taking care of ‘Robbie’ — referring to the Carron’s son,
Robert — in here.”
Government was then
amending the Immigration
Act.
And then he made it clear
he wanted no foreigner owning a newspaper in the
Bahamas. It was pointed out
that at that time the Guardian was foreign owned. The
Tribune just wanted an even
playing field.
“We really want you and
Roger on the ground floor
with us,” he said in his honey-toned voice. He said that
Mr Carron would be granted
a three year permit.
The Tribune, Mrs Carron
told him, was an independent newspaper. It would be
on the ground floor with no
one. If she and her husband
stayed, The Tribune would
honour the tradition of her
grandfather, father, and the
newspaper’s motto — “being
bound to swear to the dogmas of no master.”
When she left Sir Lynden’s office, she knew that
The Tribune was hers and her
husband’s burden and
together they had a long,
hard road of persecution
ahead of them.
They also knew that there
would be no justice for The
Tribune under a PLP government. For them it was a matter of keeping The Tribune
alive until the PLP administration had run its course.
And so, August 19, 1992,
was indeed a day of celebration with an FNM government that had promised that
“every Bahamian will have
the opportunity to be all
that he or she wants to be,
assured of upward mobility
in an open society fuelled
by a market-driven economy.”
This was the day that The
Tribune stopped treading
water and started to grow
— not by favours, but in an
atmosphere of justice and
fairplay.
November, 2007
THE TRIBUNE
The Tribune | 17
LADY DUPUCH receives communion on her 100th birthday, February 18, 2006 from Monsignor Preston Moss while
being attended by daughter Eileen, whose home she lived in for the last eight years of her life.
SIR ETIENNE AND LADY DUPUCH - pictured with their three sons and three daughters. From left: Joan, Bette,
Bernard, Etienne Jr., Pierre and Eileen.
Excellence achieved
on a consistent basis
By Archbishop
Drexel Gomez
The Lord Archbishop of The
West Indies Primate and
Metropolitan, and The Bishop
of The Bahamas and the
Turks and Caicos Islands
SIR ETIENNE AND LADY DUPUCH - with their full family taken at their home in Camperdown.
Sitting (L-R): Eileen Canon with her baby son Robert in her arms and nephew Graham standing, Sir Etienne and Lady
Marie, Joan with her son Ricky in her arms. Front row: Valerie and Jimmy Hull (Bette’s children), Jeanne and Etienne
III (Etienne’ children) and Ollie (Joan's eldest son). Standing (I-r): Roger Carron, Bette and James Hull with their
daughter Lisa, Susan and Pierre Dupuch, Sylvia and Etienne Jr., and MaryAnn and Bernard Dupuch.
On behalf of the Anglican
diocesan family in the
Bahamas, and on my own
behalf, I offer heartiest congratulations to Mrs. Eileen
Carron as she celebrates this
significant milestone as
a
journalist
in
our
Bahamaland.
Many of our contemporaries
are unaware of the magnificent
contributions Mrs. Carron has
made to the development of
the “Fourth Estate” in this
country. When Mrs. Carron’s
father, the late Sir Etienne
Dupuch, announced his retire-
ment from the Tribune many
persons expressed doubt about
the future of that highly prestigious and influential newspaper that had achieved the status of an institution in this society. Mrs. Carron accepted the
mantle of her esteemed father
and soon removed the doubt
about her ability to keep the
ship afloat.
She has demonstrated
beyond any shadow of doubt
that she was not only up to the
task but has succeeded in
expanding the communications capacity of the Tribune to
include the print and the
broadcasting media.
It must be acknowledged
that in both of these areas, the
concept of excellence is
demonstrated on a consistent
basis.
All of this has taken place
under the wise direction of
Mrs. Carron in an environment that was sometimes supportive and at other times
barely tolerated.
Yet, in the spirit of the late
Sir Etienne, Mrs. Carron never
wavered in her commitment to
provide the Bahamas with relevant and competitive media.
In addition to the mantle of
Sir Etienne, Mrs. Carron has
enjoyed the loyal and committed support of her husband,
family and a loyal staff who
share her vision and hope for a
better Bahamas.
Mrs. Carron, a faithful member of the Roman Catholic
Church, has enjoyed the
strength provided by the sacramental and spiritual benefits
provided by her ecclesial tradition.
We wish Mrs. Carron God’s
continued grace and blessing
for the future.
PAGE 20 , Wednesday, March 16th, 2016
THE TRIBUNE
Wednesday, March 14th, 2016. PAGE 21
SIR ETIENNE DUPUCH TABLES RESOLUTION: ENDS RACIAL DESCRIMINATION !
An Eye-Witness to History: Eileen Dupuch Carron
Tribune Editor & Publisher’s Greatest, Most Historic, Achievement
Sir Etienne Dupuch, Kt., O.B.E., K.M., K.C.S.G., (Hon.) LL.D., D.Litt .
TABLING
TABLING AA RESOLUTION
RESOLUTION IN
IN THE
THE
HOUSE OF
OF ASSEMBLY
ASSEMBLY OUTLAWING
OUTLAWING
HOUSE
“Y
ou may call
the whole
Police Force. You
may call the whole
British Army.......I
will go to jail tonight, but I refuse
to sit down, and I
am ready to resign
and go back to the
People.”
Etienne Dupuch,
House of Assembly
January 23rd, 1956
“SIR ETIENNE made the PLP active and alive and kept them on their toes,
When all others failed, he stood alone and that is what I admire him for. I see
many of the things he said today, I wish I was wise enough in my younger years
to accept. But unfortunately, wisdom comes with age.”
H.E. Arthur D. Hanna, LLB
Former Governor-General &
Deputy- Prime Minister
“A pesky pimple on the body politic
of the Bahamas”
Dr. Doris Johnson, PLP Senator
“TODAY, the fact that there is a free press in The
Bahamas, whether some of us care to admit it or
not, is due entirely to one man. There were times
when, despite great sacrifices and many attempts
at muzzling The Tribune, he was the only voice in
disagreement and opposition, sometimes to what
some of us regarded as a reckless government,
Sir Etienne stood firm.”
H.E. Sir Orville Turnquest, G.C.M.G., Q.C.
Former Governor-General & Deputy- Prime Minister
“Racial
hotels,
“Racial discrimination
discrimination ininhotels,
theatres
andother
other
places
in the
theatres and
places
in the
colony
colony against persons on account
against
account of their
of
theirpersons
race oron
colour.....”
race or
“The
daycolour.....
is past in the world when
The dayand
is past
in the
when classclasses
races
canworld
be divided
by
es andcruel
racesinvisible
can be divided
by some
some
line. The
time has
come
when people
all time
overhas
thecome
world
cruel invisible
line. The
have
of thehave
factbewhen become
people allconscious
over the world
that
freedom
is indivisible.
comehuman
conscious
of the fact
that humanIt
is
a quality
of mind that
freedom
is indivisible.
It is cannot
a qualitybeof
broken up into parcels and one group
mind that cannot be broken up into parhanded one set of freedoms and ancels and
one another
group handed
one setcan
of be
other
given
set. There
freedoms
another
given
only
one and
freedom
– and
it another
must beset.
the
There can
only one freedom
andallit
equal
andbeindivisible
freedom– of
mustpeople.”
be the equal and indivisible freethe
dom of all the people.”
Etienne
Dupuch,
Sir
Etienne
Dupuch,
House
of Assembly
House
of Assembly,
January
23rd,
1956
January
23rd,
2016
“His uncanny ability to make accurate predictions about people, especially people in politics, was disconcerting to his sometime adversaries, myself included. His secret was his
keen interest in people and his astute observation of human nature. He was not infallible, to be sure, but he was startlingly accurate about how some of our own political leaders
would act once they had come to power. I believe he regarded politics somewhat like the Lord’s children regard the world: he was in it but not of it. He obviously enjoyed the excitement of the arena and valued the opportunity to change things. But he disdained the grubby aspects of Bahamian politics”
H.E. Sir Arthur Foulkes, G.C.M.G.
THE TRIBUNE
A team of winners
BEING BOUND TO SWEAR TO THE DOGMAS OF NO MASTER
A NEWSPAPER is only as
good as its team. And today, as
we celebrate the unparalleled
achievements of our Editor &
Publisher, The Tribune also
salutes the team who make this
great newspaper happen every
day. To the journalists, advertising representatives, accounts
staff, production and press
team, operations and IT team;
circulation personnel, maintenance; cleaning staff, security;
and, every other member of The
Tribune family, we say a big
THANK YOU!
SPORTS EDITOR: Samora St Rose.
shown with Mr, and Mrs. Carron.
Samora and the features team bring
you Insight, Bahamian Taste, Bahamian Woman, Religion and Da Vibe.
ARCHIVES staff keep clippings and other file
material to ensure Tribune staff have first-class
research material at their disposal. Robert Carron,
publisher-editor Mrs Eileen Carron and the late
Roger Carron , Managing Director, the late Erica
Fowler and Christopher Bain.
COMPOSING DEPARTMENT: Left to Right: Esther Barry, ( Composing Manager)
Taliste Taylor, Mrs Eileen Carron, and Jacqueline Johnson, Ret. ( 34 years) Roger Carron,
Philip Brown, Production / IT Magner, Tonika Cox, Octavier Thurston; and graphic designers
Jason Taylor & Whiteley McKinney.
PHOTO INSET: Eloise “Poits” Poitier, Executive Assistant to our Editor, Publisher & Chairman
Poits is just recently celebrated her 48th year with The Tribune family.
The Tribune
Established 1903
My Voice! My World!
HOWEVER good a newspaper editorially, it cannot operate without the all-important input
of the advertising staff, who sell the space that brings in most of the company’s revenue. Robert
Carron and Direct of Sales Godfrey Arthur (sitting at desk) are seen here with Mr and Mrs
Carron and the sales team. From left, they are account executives Carolyn Coakley, Lithera
Pratt, Evelyn Thompson, Patrice Nichols, Karen Gates and late Marquel Bethel. Alongside him
is classified section executive Angela Butler, who has been with The Tribune for 35 years.
92 The Tribune Centenary
November 21, 2003
“Today”.
PAGE 23
17
Wednesday, March 16th,
2016 PAGE
SIDEBURNS
TRIBUNE
THE TRIBUNE
How women finally got the vote
By EILEEN CARRON
IT WAS Monday, November 27,
1962 — Election Day. When the polls
opened early that morning Bahamian
women for the first time stood shoulder
to shoulder with their men to cast their
first ballot.
In New Providence Mrs Ivy Mackey
was the first woman to vote in polling
division No. I of the City District and
Mrs Kay Bethel, wife of popular ZNS
manager, the late HR (Rusty) Bethel,
was the first woman to cast her ballot in
St Anne’s polling station in the Eastern
District.
Mrs Ruby Ann (Cooper) Darling
was the first woman to register to vote
when registration opened on July 2,
1962. She was later to become the first
woman PLP member of parliament.
The vote for women was slow in
coming, but that did not mean that
over the years women did not exercise
a certain amount of influence in the
way in which their men voted.
Sir Etienne Dupuch, for example,
would be the first to admit that if it
had not been for an old, crippled
woman and her family in Inagua he
would have lost his first election in
1925. He won by one vote.
Old man Cartwright, a patriarchal
figure from the white settlement at
North West Point, who cast the deciding vote, intimidated by power politics
even in that remote settlement, made
every excuse not to go to the polls that
day. In those days the ballot was open.
Later Sir Etienne threw the full weight
of The Tribune into the successful campaign for the secret ballot.
The old man’s crippled wife and
family were determined to put “the
boy” in the House. Sir Etienne was
only 26. This was his first campaign.
Cartwright’s wife had washed and
ironed his clothes for election day, but
come the day, he complained he had no
shoes for the occasion. Whereupon,
Father Chrysostom Schreiner, Sir Etienne’s mentor who had accompanied
him to Inagua to make certain that no
harm came to his “boy”, sat down, took
off his shoes and handed them over
for the walk to the polling station.
Mr Cartwright had no more excuses. The whole Cartwright family, with
the old man in the middle, locked arms,
and with Mrs Cartwright hobbling on
one crutch, they marched Mr
Cartwright in Fr Chrysostom’s shoes
to the polls.
He then had to publicly declare
who he voted for. He was afraid of the
two local Inagua merchants — they
were the black equivalent to Nassau’s
“Bay Street Boys” — who supported
Sir Etienne’s opponent, D.S.D. Moseley of the Nassau Guardian family. But
Mr Cartwright was also afraid of the little woman leaning on her crutch wait-
ing to hear the name that was to come on the women’s vote.
out of his mouth.
“It turned out exactly as I had foreIn that moment of decision, he seen,” said Sir Etienne. “Within the
probably thought the two local mer- next few months the town was torn
chants were far enough away not to do apart by demonstrations for women’s
him too much harm, but when he rights. As I predicted, they were no
turned around he had to face his wife, longer asking for some consideration;
family, and a home that would be dai- they were demanding everything and
ly hell if he did not do right by “the they got all they asked with the result
boy.” The “boy” got his vote.
that, within a short time, the colony
And, so with one vote over his moved from limited male suffrage to
opponent, Sir Etienne Dupuch entered universal adult suffrage. This is a lot
the House of Assembly for the first for any people to swallow in one gulp.”
time — the member for the district of
At the same time women could now
Inagua and Mayaguana.
be elected to the House of Assembly.
In those days, there was no polling
Before then the only persons who
station at Mayaguana, nor was there could be registered to vote were male
direct communication with Inagua. British subjects of 21 years and over,
Therefore, the people of Mayaguana, who had been resident in the colony for
although registered, were deprived of 12 months before their application.
the vote. In reality they were in the
To qualify the person also had to
same position as Bahamian
women who were not registered. However, at a subsequent election Sir Etienne chartered a boat, and
took Mayaguanians to the
Inagua polls. Ever since
then they have exercised
their full rights as Bahamian citizens. It was Sir Etienne who got them communication and their own
polling station at Pirates
Wells. It was said that it
was he who brought them
into the Bahamas.
Most women seemed
content to let their men
decide who would govern
them. They were not clamouring for the vote —
many believed it was a
man’s duty, not theirs, to
cast the ballot.
And so when Sir Alan
INGRAHAM, who spearheaded the Women’s
Lennox-Boyd was sent to MARY
Movement in the Bahamas in the early 1950s.
the Bahamas from the Colonial Office in London shortly after the own a piece of property with a market
1958 General Strike to push reforms value of £5 or more, or be a lessee or
through the legislature, he could not tenant of a piece of real estate valued at
be blamed for accepting the United not less than £2. 8s. in New Providence,
Bahamian Party’s contention that or £1.4s. in the Out Islands for six
women were not really interested in months before registration.
voting.
This meant that until adult male sufThat might have been true of a few frage there were many men who did
years earlier, but by 1958 there was a not qualify for the vote.
small group of strong-minded women
This was the state of affairs when in
determined that women should no 1952 — a year before the introduction
longer continue as passengers on the of party politics, the PLP in 1953, the
Ship of State. It was time they had UBP in 1958 — a small group of
equal say in steering that Ship.
women presented a petition with 550Sir Etienne told Sir Alan that he signatures to the Hon A F Adderley
was wrong in not adding the women’s and Dr C R Walker with the request
vote to his bundle of reforms.
that they in turn present the petition to
“I told him he was making a mis- the House and the Legislative Council
take,” Sir Etienne wrote, “he should (today’s Senate). These women wanted
make a small concession to women the vote, and they had worked long
then, otherwise in a few month’s time and hard for it.
they would be demanding the full slate.
“The first petition was left on the
On his return to England he wrote me shelf to die,” reported Mrs Mary Ingraa note to thank me for my coopera- ham, founder and first president of the
tion and said his wife agreed with me Women’s Suffrage Movement.
Unfortunately, their movement got
caught up in politics.
While Mrs Ingraham and her small
group of women were valiantly fighting
for the rights of women at home, party
politics was going through its birth
pangs.
Lynden Oscar Pindling (later Sir
Lynden and the first Prime Minister
of an Independent Bahamas) was
studying law in England. He had gone
to England in 1948 and was called to
the English Bar in February, 1953.
Doris Johnson, whose attempt to
snatch the suffrage movement from its
founders, was also at university in the
United States in the fifties. She
returned to the Bahamas in 1958.
In a letter to The Tribune in November, 1975 Mrs Ingraham outlined the
early days of the struggle. She wrote
the letter because Radio
ZNS, then controlled by the
PLP government, had credited Dr Doris Johnson and
the PLP with winning the
vote for women. Mrs Ingraham was angry at the historic misrepresentation and
wrote her letter to set the
record straight. Said she:
“First let us discuss the
first petition typed by Mrs
Althea Mortimer and presented by the Hon A F
Adderley and Dr C R
Walker to the House of
Assembly and Legislative
Council containing only 550
signatures in 1950 which
were obtained by Dr H W
Brown, Mr Wilfred Toote,
Mrs Gladys Bailey, Mrs
Mary Ingraham and her
five children.
“The first petition was
Suffrage
left on the shelf to die.
“The formation of the suffrage movement: Between 1951-52 the
suffrage movement was formed and
because for my activities, Mrs Mary
Ingraham was elected president. During this period meetings were held and
signatures obtained. Dr Doris Johnson
was away at school and had no activities involving this movement whatsoever.
“Signatures obtained were from
Saint Hilda’s Chapters, Curfew Lodge,
Star of the East Lodge of Samaritans.
“Active members were: Mrs J K
Symonette, vice president, Mrs Ugenia Lockhart, secretary treasurer, Mrs
Mary Ingraham, president.
“They were working together for
many years until the announcement
was made that the Secretary of State
for the Colonies, the Hon LennoxBoyd, was to arrive.
“Mary Ingraham made arrangements
for an appointment with Mr LennoxBoyd through Mr K M Walmsley, the
then Colonial Secretary for the
Colonies.
“The ladies that waited on Mr
Lennox-Boyd to present him with the
second petition were Mrs JK Symonette, Mrs Ugenia Lockhart, Mrs Mary
Ingraham, president.
“After presenting the petition to
him, he assured us that it would be
dealt with in the House of Commons,
to which I have a receipt to prove
where it was debated.
“After Mr Boyd’s departure I was a
member of the UBP, but I never
wished to force my will on anyone even
my children. I wouldn’t call on the late
Sir Stafford Sands (UBP) being my
representative at that time.
“I, therefore, called on the Hon Gerald Cash and asked him to present the
petition to the House of Assembly for
me because he was an independent
member of the House.
“He accepted. I sent the petition to
Mr Cash containing 9,500 signatures,
which he presented to the House with
notice to be read at the next meeting.
“In that week Dr Doris Johnson
arrived from school and Mrs J K
Symonette brought her to the meeting
and discussed the activities for the petition coming up for its first reading. Dr
Johnson suggested we allow her to
address the assembly before the petition was read. It was a rough morning
in the House. Sir Milo Butler objected
to the motion by Mr Roy Solomon to
spend £9,000 to entertain Prince Philip,
therefore, when it was time for Dr
Johnson to make her address, Mr Roy
Solomon therefore objected to the
ladies being allowed to address the
Assembly.
“Sir Roland Symonette, then being
Premier, went over to the Magistrate’s
Court and got the Magistrate to vacate
the courtroom, and brought the members of the House over to the Magistrate’s court to listen to the address of
the ladies.
“Ladies and gentlemen, this is the
only part Dr Johnson played in the
vote for women.
“And when the motion came for a
vote in the House of Assembly not one
member of the PLP government,
including the Prime Minister (Pindling),
voted for the women to vote. Instead,
every member walked out.
“Therefore how can Women’s Week
be celebrated by this (PLP) government?
(Signed) Mary Mason Ingraham”
When the Bill was passed on February 23, 1961 giving the women the
right to vote, Sir Lynden, then in
Opposition, moved an amendment
to enable women to be elected to the
House. The amendment was carried
unanimously with both UBP and
PLP voting for it.
SEE next page
34 The Tribune Centenary
November 21, 2003
PAGE
Date”March 16th, 2016THE TRIBUNE
THE TRIBUNE
PAGE2224, “Current
Wednesday
A Bahamian institution
The Tribune has chronicled
the country’s political, social
and economic development
THE Rt Hon Hubert Alexander Ingraham, Prime Minister
of the Bahamas from 1992-2002, in his anniversary tribute to
The Tribune recognises it as a veritable “Bahamian institution”.
Mr Ingraham, MP for North Abaco, was sworn in as
prime minister of the Bahamas for a second term on March 19,
1997 following a landslide electoral victory in which his party, the Free National Movement, won 34 of 40 seats in the
House of Assembly.
Born in Pine Ridge, Grand Bahama on August 4, 1947, he
grew up in Cooper’s Town, Abaco. He was called to the
Bahamas Bar in December, 1972, entered private practice
and became the senior partner in the law firm of Christie,
Ingraham & Co.
Mr Ingraham entered front-line politics in 1975 when he
was elected to the National General Council of the governing
Progressive Liberal Party. He became national party chairman
in 1976, and was elected to the House the following year as
MP for Cooper’s Town, North Abaco. He has been re-elected by his constituents on five occasions.
Mr Ingraham was re-elected to parliament as an Independent in 1987. Joining the Official Opposition Free National
Movement party in 1990, he led them to
victory at the polls in the general election
of August 19, 1992.
For a centur y
the newspaper
has remained
faithful to
its motto
****
HUBERT INGRAHAM
I
AM pleased to join with Bahamians
from every walk of life in offering
congratulations and best wishes to
The Tribune on the centennial of its
founding.
The Tribune is a veritable “Bahamian Institution” whose pages chronicle
the political, social and economic development of The Bahamas over the past
100 years. Its archives provide a powerhouse of information on the transformation of our country from “boom
and bust” economic mis-starts to a
mecca for the rich and famous; from a minority-governed
colony to a majority-ruled and politically-independent country; from a quaint seasonal tourism haunt to the most successful tourism economy in the Caribbean; from a tentative
off-shore financial centre to a premier international financial
jurisdiction.
Throughout those 100 years, The Tribune has remained
faithful to its motto: “Being Bound to Swear to The Dogmas
of No Master”. The Tribune’s faithfulness to this motto has
made it difficult, if not impossible, to identify the political or
social ideology which framed the editorial position of the
newspaper, save and except for a fierce and unyielding belief
in the right and duty of The Tribune to report local and international events as seen
through the eyes of its journalists and its Publisher.
This stance by The Tribune long ago earned it the
reputation of an “opposition” paper, particularly in
partisan political circles. No
Government
of
The
Bahamas, whether United
Bahamian Party (UBP),
Progressive Liberal Party
(PLP) or Free National
Children circled us and adults looked
Movement (FNM), has ever
on suspiciously as we flared the mouth of
been happy or pleased to
the faucet to kill any bacteria before baghave its policies and actions
ging water samples for analysis.
in office subjected to the
We made quite a picture – the trim lady
unrelenting scrutiny and critdressed smartly in a skirt and matching
icism of The Tribune. Nor
has any Bahamian Governblouse and pumps, the U.N. man in coat
ment been satisfied that its
and tie and young me in jeans and tennis,
policies, initiatives or actions
ready to fly the ice cooled samples from
have always been fully, or
the pump sprouting green guck to the lab
adequately, understood and
in Florida.
reported upon consistently
Mission accomplished, we gave the reby The Tribune. But, those
maining ice to the residents who didn’t
of us who subscribe to the
belief that democracy is best
have refrigerators or plumbing and reprotected when the Fourth
lied on water from the disgusting pump.
Estate is not bound by the
We jumped in the car, Mrs. Carron
dictates and whimsy of govtaking the curves like a race driver to get
The Tribune
thanks
all from
Reprinted
Reprinted
from
The Tribune’s
advertisers
TheTribune’s
100th
Anniversary
who
have
100th Anniversary
Edition
supported
Edition
this special
publication
When the Little Lady
Defied a Drug Lord
FROM: Page 10
Once in a while, we went on assignment together.
One involved an interview with the
American smuggler, the late Frank Barber. Barber rudely sneered at an elderly
Bahamian lawyer who was present and
dismissed him with a “shut up old man!”
Eileen Carron promptly chastised him
and made him apologise to the lawyer.
My favourite assignment with her took
place in Union Village in the heart of the
inner city.
The conditions at the public water
pump created the perfect breeding
ground for the bacteria that causes typhoid fever and there was a lot of concern
about an outbreak. The government, as
usual, was trying to keep it under wraps.
We arrived with a small cooler, a bag
of ice, sterile bags, an acetylene torch
and a U.N. water specialist.
ernments or ideological bias have also come to accept that
The Bahamas is better, much better, with than without The
Tribune.
Contained in Manifesto ’92 was an FNM pledge to guard
and protect the freedom of speech and expression guaranteed
by our national Constitution. In pursuit of those pledges, the
FNM, in two successive terms as Government, sought to
instill in The Bahamas a greater appreciation for the role of
a free and independent press in the deepening of our democracy. It was this commitment to a deepening of our democracy which led the FNM, in 1993, to bring to an end six
decades of Government monopoly of the airwaves in The
Bahamas.
As it happened, the first licence for a private radio station in The Bahamas was granted to The Tribune. That
station, 100 Jamz, is today housed in a building named in
honour of The Tribune’s famous editor, Sir Etienne
Dupuch, a leader — in the House of Assembly and in the
press — in the historic fight which brought an end to
racial segregation in public places in our country.
Before leaving office in 2002, the FNM Government has
issued nine licences for private radio stations in New
Providence, Grand Bahama, Abaco
and Eleuthera; extended the reach of
Radio Bahamas (ZNS-AM) to the
entire Bahamas and introduced Cable
TV service, thereby bringing clear and
easy access for Bahamian residents to
additional independent media reports
from the United States of America,
Canada, the United Kingdom and
Germany. The significance of this
development is its enormous and progressive impact on the forces of
change on the political and social landscape of The Bahamas.
The freedom of the press was so
fundamental to my personal philosophy that, in Government, I determined not to pursue the practice of
my predecessor in office, to seek legal
redress against the press, even when and where I believed
that my reputation and character had been harmed by
inaccurate or misrepresented press reporting. Indeed, I
was pleased to become a signatory of the Declaration of
Chapultepec endorsing the principles of the Inter American Press Association for the freedom of expression and
of the press. My one regret in this regard was not amending our archaic and restrictive libel laws.
I recall fondly, a long, if not always harmonious relationship, with the editors of The Tribune , a relationship
marked by disagreement in shades of interpretations as
well as in substance; but, nevertheless, a relationship
marked by dignity and mutual respect. Indeed, my first
encounter with a newspaper (I believe it was The Tribune) was as a schoolboy in Cooper’s Town, Abaco, when
the Headmaster shared with me his copy which reported
on a visit to our settlement by the Colonial Governor. The
report found all of the residents of Cooper’s Town turned
out in their Sunday best to meet the Governor at the
school house. The paper described us as simple, happy
people. We thought the reporter was condescending; we
were offended. But I am certain that the reporter meant
no offence, using “simple” not in its pejorative form.
The Tribune’s tradition of fierce independence, set by its
founder Leon Dupuch so many years ago, crystalized by
Sir Etienne, continues today under the careful watch of
Mrs Eileen Carron, a worthy successor to her father. A
true newspaperwoman, Mrs Carron demands respect not
only for the rights of a free and independent press but also
her commitment to the duty and obligation of a free press
to be objective, balanced and fair in its reporting. Administratively, a strong businesswoman, she substantially
increased the income of the newspaper when she, on my
Government’s watch, won a long campaign to end The
Nassau Guardian’s monopoly as the Government’s
Gazette.
The Tribune has been an important partner in the
social and political development of our modern Bahamas
and as the institution observes its centennial of continuous
publication, it is fitting for all of us to acknowledge and
express appreciation for the newspaper’s contribution to
national development.
It gives me great pleasure to join my voice to those
extending heartfelt congratulations to Mrs Eileen Carron
and to The Tribune’s committed and hardworking staff.
me to the airport in time for my flight to
Florida.
I clutched my stomach.She giggled.
(Athena Damianos worked at The
Tribune for 24 years as a reporter and
national news editor).
Former
chief
of chief
world’s
Former
AP
largest Press Association
honours
(AP)
honours‘devotion
‘devotion
freedom
totofreedom
and fairness’
and fairness’
Dear Eileen,
Dear Eileen,
I salute the newspaper’s dedication to
serving
its readers,
and itsits100th
unflinchAs the TRIBUNE
approaches
ing
devotion
to
freedom
and
fairness.
Anniversary I salute the newspaper s dedicaIn
my
more
than
40
years
of jourtion to serving its readers, and its unflinching
nalism
I
have
had
frequent
contact
devotion to freedom and fairness.
with
TRIBUNE
and its execuIn my THE
more than
40 years of journalism
I
tives,
I have
nothing
but admihave hadand
frequent
contact
with the TRIBUNE
ration
for your
collective
record.
and its executives,
and I have
nothing but
Although
I never
the pleasadmiration
for your
collectivehad
record.
ure
of I knowing
newspaper’s
Although
never had thethe
pleasure
of knowfounder,
Leons founder,
Hartman
Dupuch,
ing the newspaper
Leon Hartman
I did have
privilege of knowing
IDupuch,
did have
thetheprivilege
of knowyour parents,
Etienne and
Dupuch,and
ing
your Sir
parents,
Sir Lady
Etienne
who were
active participants
in professional
Lady
Dupuch,
who were
active parorganisationsin
devoted
to freedom of organisathe press.
professional
EILEEN DUPUCH CARRON, CMG, LLB - with her uncle Hon. Eugene Dupuch, ticipants
I havedevoted
vivid memories
of their bringing
your
tions
to
freedom
of
the
press.
QC, and nephew, Peter Dupuch, upon the occassion of her being the 2nd woman
son IRobert
to
meetings
where
he
was
exposed
have vivid memories of their
‘Called To The Bar’ in 1962.
to the valuesyour
of a free
pressRobert
from an early
age,
bringing
son
to meet
ings where he was exposed to
the values of a free press from
an early age, paving the way to
a fourth
of of leaderpaving
the way togeneration
a fourth generation
leadship
committed
to
the
ership committed to the same idealssame
as the ideals as THE
TRIBUNE’s founders.
TRIBUNE
s founders.
It’s
been
a
great
pleasure
It s been a great pleasure working
withworking
you
with
andRoger
your
husband
and
youryou
husband
Carron
from my Roger
earfrom
my early
at s,The
lyCarron
days at The
Associated
Press indays
the 1960
Associated
Press
the ago.
1960’s, ununtil
my retirement
a fewin
months
til
my you
retirement
a few
I salute
and your family,
andmonths
wish the ago.
I saluteanother
you and
youroffamily,
TRIBUNE
century
success.and wish
THE TRIBUNE another century of
Sincerely,
success.
CLAUDE E. ERBSEN
Scarsdale,
Sincerely,
New York
The Tribune KISSfm
CLAUDE E. ERBSEN ( Ret.)
(Mr
until his
recent retirement,
VPErbsen,
& Director
of World
Services was
the
AP
s
World
Services
chief).
Scarsdale, New York
Established 1903
Being Bound To Swear To The Dogmas Of No Master
ILEEN DUPUCH CARRON, CMG, LLB - with her uncle Hon. Eugene Dupuch, QC, and nephew,
eter Dupuch, upon the occassion of her being the 2nd woman ‘Called To The Bar’ in 1962.
Feel The Music!
96.1
THE TRIBUNE
22 November, 2007
The Tribune
EILEEN DUPUCH - is pictured standing next to the
great Indian leader Pandit Nehru (centre) during a
reception in New Delhi to inaugurate the
Commonwealth Press Union's tour of that country
in November 1961.
AT A RECEPTION - during the Commonwealth Press Union tour of India in
1961, Eileen Dupuch, then engaged to lawyer Roger Carron, is shown talking with the wife of the Governor of West Bengal, who held the reception for
the delegates in Calcutta.
The greatest Bahamian journalist
since the time of Sir Etienne
By Hazel Chea
Circulation manager
(50 years with The Tribune)
It is with singular pleasure
and pride that I take this
opportunity to pay a special
tribute to Mrs. Eileen Dupuch
Carron in recognition of her 50
years of unparalleled contribution to journalism.
I am proud to boast that I
have known Mrs. Carron for
more than 50 years. I joined the
Tribune when I was sixteen,
and have been privileged to
have witnessed, from my vantage point as an employee and
a family friend, Mrs. Carron's
extraordinary career advancement from a college student of
journalism to a stellar icon in
the Bahamian media, and
indeed internationally, as head
of The Tribune dynasty.
I was there when she joined
The Tribune as an enthusiastic
college graduate to understudy
her father, the late Sir Etiene
Dupuch, an unparalleled legend in the annals of Bahamian
journalism; a hard act for a
young aspiring daughter to
emulate!
But today, I can truly attest
that Mrs. Carron has walked
with meticulous precision in
the footsteps of her father in
getting to know and understand the printing business, and
accepting the mantle of leadership he bequeathed to her: To
continue and safeguard his
legacy.
In this pursuit, she has taken
The Tribune to greater heights
of journalistic accomplishments
and social contributions, her
footprints of necessity meandering from her father’s into
unchartered territories, but
emulating always his inspiring
confidence, resoluteness of
purpose, social responsibility
and visionary leadership.
I was there when Mrs.
Carron obtained her Law
degree......when she brought
Mr. Roger Carron to The
Tribune to introduce him as her
fiance ....... when they got married.... when they showed-off
their new son, Robert..... and
when Mrs. Carron took over
the management of The
Congratulations
to
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Head Office & Support Centre
East-West Highway
Tel: 242-393-2830
Fax: 242-393-1232
Tribute from her father.
I spent many hours in her
parent’s home and was privileged to see dimensions of her
personality away from the
office environment.
And so I have had the privilege of watching Mrs. Carron
grow into a woman extraordinaire, awesome in the depth
and breath of her journalistic
knowledge, experience and
expertise; in her leadership
style and managerial acumen;
in her wisdom in dealing with
the inevitable media criticisms
of The Tribune’s viewpoints
and with employee situations
on the job; awesome in her
understanding and appreciation of the history and complexities of our Bahamian cul-
ture and her humanity in
enhancing our social welfare;
and awesome as a role model
of 21st Century Womanhood
for women in The Bahamas,
and everywhere, to emulate.
As a long standing employee,
I have had the opportunity to
witness, firsthand, the growing
pains and challenges Mrs.
Carron encountered as she
endeavored to make The
Tribune the extraordinary success it is today.
She makes it a point, as her
father did, to involve her
employees, especially her cherished ‘veterans’ in the ups-anddowns of the firm’s operational
success.
Our love and respect for our
boss lady are implicit in our
nickname for her; we affectionately call her “Mother”
although I must admit that
there is sometimes a little tremble in our voices, for “Mother”
can give tough love when necessary in insisting on standards
of excellence in our performance and loyalty one to another
as members of The Tribune
corporate family.
Mrs. Carron, my family and I
extend our congratulations on
your 50th anniversary as, in our
view, the greatest Bahamian
journalist since your father’s
time; and we wish you immense
joy in your celebrations, and
continued success and accomplishments in an already successful and accomplished
career.
THE TRIBUNE
The birth of
100 JAMZ
‘TheVoice
of the People’
T
HE BAHAMAS’ first radio station, 100 JAMZ went
on the air at 10am Monday, October 11, 1993, bringing to an end the monopoly on government broadcasting.
The “People’s Radio Station” (100.3 on the FM
radio dial)‚ is owned by Tribune Radio Holding Limited and is
located in the Sir Etienne Dupuch Broadcast Centre adjacent
to The Tribune on Shirley Street.
One of Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham’s proudest achievements in government was breaking government’s broadcast
monopoly and giving Bahamians an opportunity to express
their opinions on the affairs of their country over the airwaves.
The FNM’s Manifesto ’92 promised that if the FNM won the
government it would break the propaganda monopoly that the
PLP held through the Broadcasting Corporation of the Bahamas.
This it did 11 months after becoming the government when
on July 22, 1993 Prime Minister Ingraham announced that by
the time the House next met on August 4 a licence would
have been granted for the Bahamas’ first independent radio
station. Government, he said, planned to issue two radio
licences.
However, he said, no licences would be granted to members of parliament, officers of political parties, or political
parties.
When it was rumoured that The Tribune would be the first
licence holder, the Progressive Liberal Party, then in opposition,
objected.
It did not approve of a licence being granted to owners or publishers of newspapers, and vowed that if it were returned to power
any licence held by a newspaper publisher would be revoked.
Since then nine radio licences have been granted. In Nassau the
stations are Love 97, More FM, Island FM and Joy FM. A licence
was also granted to the Catholic Church, which is yet to be activated.
In addition to 100 JAMZ, Tribune Radio has relationships with
JOYfm, KISSfm, Y-98fm and CLASSICALfm.
FIRST PRIVATE RADIO STATION — Although radio 100JAMZ started broadcasting on October 11, 1993, it
was not officially opened by Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham until February 13, 1994. Prime Minister Ingraham
is seen walking to the Sir Etienne Dupuch Broadcast Centre to unveil the station’s plaque. With him is Tribune
Editor/Publisher Eileen Carron and her son, Robert, who spearheaded the building of the station and was its first
general manager. The station is now under the direction of Sir Etienne Dupuch’s grandson, Ollie Dupuch Ferguson, who is also TribuneMedia Group’s, Chief Operating Officer. (Photo: Tim Aylen)
KiSSfm
Feel The Music!
96.1
THE TRIBUNE
TRIBUTES
PAUL
G.
TURNQUEST
Former Tribune News Editor
D
URING the early stages of my journalism career, I can recall a time
when a story I penned rubbed a major advertiser of The Tribune the
wrong way. The piece was straight forward
and factual, but the advertiser was incensed.
When I got to my desk that morning, the phone was
already ringing. I answered, and identified myself as
usual. The voice on the other line was thundering his
discontent and indignation. He would have my pen
by the end of the day, the man declared and hung up.
I sat there for a moment, dumbstruck. Here
was a multi-millionaire, with hundreds of thousands of dollars in advertising committed to
The Tribune, at war with a little cub-reporter. I sat there wondering what I should do next.
The phone rang again.This time the man was demanding my resignation by the end of the day, or he
would be pulling his advertising from the newspaper;
hundreds of thousands of dollars per year, on the line. I
replayed in my mind the threats he made, and his assurances that he would be phoning Eileen Carron to
demand my termination. I sat there waiting.
The phone rang for the third time; it was Mrs Carron. She told me she had been contacted by the businessman and wanted to tell me what she had said to
him, which was; “No one threatens The Tribune, and
if he wants, he can take his advertising elsewhere, but
Paul is going nowhere.”
Mrs Carron owed me no kindness or favours. Our
professional relationship had barely begun, but she
was prepared to risk considerable financial loss to protect the integrity of her newspaper and its staff.
I have never forgotten this.
Her professionalism and integrity was not for sale,
and she let that businessman and countless others that
followed know it.
At the end of the day, no advertisement was pulled,
but a lesson was learned by the businessman and by
myself - Mrs Carron is a force to be reckoned with.
The Bahamas is better because of you, Mrs Carron,
and so am I.
With love, from my family to yours.
GISELLE M. PYFROM, LLB
Senior Vice President & Associate General Counsel
Kerzner International
“A few years ago I came across some papers that had belonged to my father, Capt. Henry Pyfrom.
Among them were notes and cards that he had received from his cousin Eileen Dupuch at a time when
they were both embarking on their journeys into the world of adulthood. The love and affection
between the two young cousins shone through bright and clear across the years. I was reminded that
they shared a love of flying from an early age, and that Eileen became the first Bahamian woman to
earn a pilot’s license. A true pioneer then and now. As I think about Eileen’s lifetime of dedication to
journalism, I am reminded of a quote by another great lady, Carrie Chapman Catt:
“To the wrongs that need resistance,
To the right that needs assistance,
To the future in the distance,
Give yourselves.”
Eileen Dupuch Carron, thank you for giving of yourself and being an inspiration to us. Love, Giselle
DR. JIM HULL, MD
Medical Director
Aunt Eileen,
I have cherished a letter sent to me from my
grandfather when I was not even four years old,
“a man’s contribution to society is measured not
by the position he holds but by how far he has
traveled on the road of life. Your forebears have
tried to give you a heritage of courage and unselfish public service that I pray will light your path
for the future. It is now for you to build on the
foundation we have laid”.
I would like to thank you for continuing his
work for the Bahamian people as well as our
family. You have added to the foundation upon
which we all have built our lives and you continue
to light our path.
With all our love,
Jim, Kristi, James,
Jeffrey, Jacob, and
Nicholas
November,
2007
THE
TRIBUNE
THE
TRIBUNE
The Tribune
| 21
“Today”.
Wednesday, March 16th,
2016 PAGE
PAGE11
29
Tributes from some senior
staff members at The Tribune
Long serving employees’
messages for ‘their boss’
By Eloise Poitier
By Barbara Darville
By Christopher Bain
Executive Secretary
Tribune Media Group
Manager,
Advertising/Page Co-ordinator
Tribune Media Group
Archivist and Librarian
for nearly 30 years
I want to congratulate Mrs
By Angela Butler
By Jacqueline Johnson
By Laura Roberts
Classified Advertising
Manager for over 30 years
Producton Co-ordinator and
staffer for over 30 years
Ordering and Stockroom
Manager for over 30 years
GRACEFUL,generous,
GRACEFUL,
generous,
thoughtful, firm and dedicat
thoughtful,
firm
and
ed is the way thatdedicated
I would
is the way you.
that IYou
wouldare
describe
describe
a role
you. You
are astaff
roleand
model
to
model
to your
everyyourlooks
staff up
andtoeveryone
looksof
one
you because
up todeportment.
you because
of your
your
I have
spent
all
of my adult
years
with
deportment.
I have
spent
allyou
of
at
Tribune
and you
because
myThe
adult
years with
at Theof
this
I have
achieved
.I’m
Tribune
and
becausemuch.
of this
I
filled
with
gratitude
to
God
for
have achieved much. .I’m filled
the
I was
withopportunity
gratitude tothat
God
for able
the
to work with you these many
opportunity that I was able to
years. Congratulations on
work achievements
with you these
your
andmany
may
years.
Congratulations
God continue to bless and
you.
‘FOR A GREAT BOSS’
YOURS is a God-given gift to
be tenacious. You get the job
done with such peacefulness
and harmony, e
which
d is seen
through theegenuine
tir belief you
R for others. This is
always show
certainly felt by those who
work around you, and encourages each to give their very
best. It has indeed been a
pleasure to work for you.
APART from being a very
APART from being a very
good employer, you have
good
employer,
youfriend
have
always been
a good
always
been
a
good
friend
to me. More people shouldto
me. Moretheir
people behaviour
should patpattern
tern their
you
after
you behaviour
and the after
world
and thebeworld
would beplace.
a betwould
a better
Many
thanks
forthanks
always
ter place.
Many
for
looking
out not
onlyonlyfor
always looking
out not
for
me,
me,but
butalso
alsofor
foryour
yourother
other
employees.
employees.
may God continue to bless you.
Happy 50th anniversary.
50th anniversary
ICarron
want on
to her
congratulate
Mrs
in journalism.
It has achievebeen a
Carron
on her
ment.
has with
been her,a
pleasure It working
pleasure
withfound
her,
especially working
because I have
especially
because
I have
her to be very
supportive
and
found
her to be
supunderstanding.
A very
woman
with
portive
and understanding.
unique ideas,
a sharp wit and a
A woman with unique ideas,
head for business, it is perhaps
a sharp wit and a head for busiMrs Carron's
open
door
policy
ness,
it is perhaps
Mrs
Carron’s
that
encourages
honest
comopen door policy that encourmunication
and
dialogue
ages honest communication
between
herselfbetween
and her staff
and
dialogue
herthatand
setsher
herstaff
apartthat
from
self
setsother
her
apart
from other
employers.
Mrs employers.
Carron is
Mrs
Carron
always
willing
always
willingis to
hear the
contocerns
hearofthe
concerns
of those
those
who work
with
who
with
her, work
whether
theher,
issuewhether
is job
the
issue
is
job
related
or
related or personal,
and to
personal, and to offer sound
offer sound advice and careful
advice and careful guidance.
guidance.
Even
in difficult times - the
difficult
- the
lossEven
of a in
loved
one, times
and during
loss
of
a
loved
one,
and
during
times of illness - she is always
timesas
of aillness
- she
is always
there
friend,
offering
her
there as She
a friend,
offeringgem!
her
support.
is a special
Efficient, intelligent,
Efficient,
intelligent, loyal,
loyal,
energetic, enthusiastic,
energetic,
enthusiastic,noble
noble
Congratulations
on
CongratulationsMrs.
MrsCarron
Carron
your
awards. You
You
on 50 journalism
years of journalism.
are
an outstanding
outstanding gem.
gem. You
You
are an
remind
me
of
a
Proverbs
31
remind me of a Proverbs 31
woman. It is an honour to have
woman. It is an honour to have
you as my boss. Keep up
you as my boss. Keep up the
the
good
work
.good work.
I FIRST met my boss when I
I FIRST
met
my boss
I
joined
The
Tribune
in when
1979-80.
joined The Tribune in 1979-80.
My
first impression of her at
My first impression of her at
that
was that
thatshe
shewas
wasa a
that time
time was
“no
strict person
person
“no nonsense”
nonsense” strict
with aa commanding
with
commandingpresence.
presence.
However,over
over the
However,
theyears,
years,I also
I also
found her to be compassionate
found
her
to
be
compassionate
and understanding towards
and
understanding
towards
staff ready
to help in any
way
staff
ready to
in any way
she could.
It’shelp
a pleasure
to
havecould.
her It's
as a my
boss.to
she
pleasure
have her as my boss.
By Mrs. Doris Bullard
Retired Librarian,
over 50 years with
The Tribune
Working with Mrs. Eileen
Carron has truly been a one
in a million chance of a life
time. A woman worthy of
praise. I will never forget
what I have learnt from her.
support. She is a special gem!
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your nearest agent.
THE TRIBUNE
TRIBUTES
DR. LEON DUPUCH
BSc., M.B., B.S., MRCOG, Dip. RCOG/RCR, CCT (UK)
Cosmetic Gynecology , Obstetrics and Specialized Gynecology
My Aunt Eileen,
While most address Mrs
Eileen Dupuch Carron as
Mrs Carron I have the great
honour and privilege of referring to her as my Aunt Eileen. My earliest and fondest
memories include Aunt Eileen and Uncle Roger and the
many family gatherings and
feasts we had together. I have
happy memories of the nights
I spent over with my cousin
Robert. I especially recall the
times when she took the belt
to Roberts backside while I
stood idly by thinking “I hope
she doesn’t tell my dad or I’ll
end up with one too” (but
she never told and my butt
was spared!). I remember the
time when she helped with
my dreaded Shakespeare literature homework and the list
goes on. Even today she continues to have a positive influ-
DR. MIKE NEVILLE
Department of Psychology
Doctors Hospital
I
n A world of
fast food and
even
faster
words, many
concepts and words
lose their true meaning. When thinking
of Eileen Dupuch
Carron I am struck
by the thought of
patriotism, a person who truly fights
for the good of their
country.
Eileen has always taken up
the mantle of her father and
grandfather and made use of
the pen to do battle for the people of the Bahamas; there can
be no better tribute.
The indomitable spirit that
is the Dupuch brand has truly
ruled the waves of the Bahamas, first in print and then the
airwaves of this historic land.
The commitment to the truth
must come both from family
traditions and from her training as a barrister, the oath so
commonly sworn in our courts
to tell the truth, the whole truth
and nothing but the truth; these
words so simple and yet so important and they serve as the
cornerstone to the success of
The Tribune newspaper.
How many generations of Bahamians have read the editorial
to find out “what has Dupuch
got to say”, which became synonymous with the truth.
It is beyond remarkable that
Eileen Dupuch Carron is still
writing the editorial with the
same clarity, determination
and steadfast adherence to the
truth and it is indeed her true
patriotism that has kept her
serving the Bahamian people in
this way for so many years.
In the new world of search
engines and almost infinite information at our fingertips, we
use words like throw away objects. This makes it difficult to
find the words that can reflect
the admiration and esteem that
I and thousands of Bahamians
hold for Mrs Carron.
These words are her life and
they will always be the greatest
tribute to her: they are written
down for eternity and beyond.
These words have fought for the
truth, they have fought for the
rights of countless people and
ence on my life, always there
for advice and guidance, anytime of day or night.
Her achievements are unsurpassable. It is difficult to
fathom the enormity of what
she has accomplished over
the years. I am blessed to
have been born into the Dupuch family and to be part of
her life.
Congratulations Aunt Eileen!
Love Leon
THE TRIBUNE
FREDERICK R.M. SMITH, Q.C.
Partner, Callenders & Co.
T
he Bahamas is
blessed to count
among its citizenry a freedom
fighter of the courage and
integrity of Eileen Dupuch
Carron.
It is my sincere hope , that if
I ever reach her current tender
young age, that I will have been
at least half the Human Rights
Warrior that she continues to
be!!!
This trail-blazing journalist and publisher has made the
tireless pursuit of truth and justice her life’s mission. For more
than five decades, her work has
stood as a beacon of ethics, decency and integrity in what, unfortunately, proved all too often
proven to be a sea of corruption,
nepotism and disregard for the
rule of law.
She has defended her convictions despite unrelenting opposition from less savory members of the country’s political
class and sometimes in the face
of grave personal danger to herself and her family. Often in
the 1970s and 80s, The Tribune
under her guidance found itself
the lone voice crying out in the
wilderness against the worst
excesses of the Pindling regime.
I can remember when Joseph
Darville and I, in launching the
Grand Bahama Human Rights
Association, only had the Tribune and her support as forum
to decry abuse and expose the
state’s excesses of power over
the financially and politically
weak and underprivileged!
A lifelong crusader for press
freedom, she also led the way
in independent radio once the
airwaves were finally opened
by the first FNM administration. The Grand Bahama Human Rights Association also
fought for freedom of expression with her, and before the
1992 elections had launched a
Constitutional action against
the Government for our company “Radio Freedom”.
This pioneering spirit has not
abated with time. Under her
guidance, The Tribune remains
to this very day the foremost
voice in media defending human rights, tolerance, environmental conservation and other
progressive ideas.
I fondly remember when
GBHRA launched its Bahama
Watch under her guidance!
We continue to face many
challenges as a country; nevertheless, I shudder to think what
kind of place The Bahamas
would be were it not for the contribution of Eileen Carron and
“The Voice of The Tribune”!
In addition to her impres-
sive journalistic achievements,
she also holds the distinction
of being the first Bahamian
woman to graduate from NYU’s
renowned Colombia School of
Journalism, the first Bahamian
woman to be registered as a pilot, and is currently the seniormost female Barrister at the Bahamas Bar.
She also holds the title of the
world’s longest serving Editor/
Publisher of a media company;
a tenure exceeding 52 years – a
record only eclipsed by that of
her father, the late crusading
journalist, Sir Etienne Dupuch.
Clearly, at a time when The
Bahamas is struggling to evolve
into a society that affords proper recognition to gender equality, the sterling example of Eileen Carron’s life and work is
more timely and relevant than
ever. She is, quite simply, the
most influential woman in the
country.
If there was ever a human being who could be described as a
national treasure to The Bahamas, it is surely Eileen Dupuch
Carron. I thank her profusely
for her invaluable contributions
to this society, and look forward
to many more years of wisdom
from her witty, trenchant and
uncompromising, but always
fair and noble pen.
TRIBUTES
DON ARCHIABLE
“
It is with great privilege
and personal honor to be
included with those that
congratulate Mrs. Eileen
Dupuch Carron on this special anniversary day, exalting her amazing career and lifetime achievements.
The majority of my own career
has been with the NBC Network,
working with truly the very top
Former VP & Chief Technology Officer, NBC
Exec. VP & Director , Osborne Engineering
journalists worldwide. With all
that I have worked with or have
known over my years in media, I
have never known anyone to meet
the standards of excellence, let
alone the professionalism, as Mrs.
Carron. Aka Mrs. C!
When most individuals receive
a lifetime achievement award,
in the area of the obvious.... Editor in Chief, Publisher, journalist,
Chairperson of a Global Publishing Empire, that in itself is worthy
of the highest tribute. That alone
certainly would be enough for any
lifetime career.
Mrs. Carron exceeds talents beyond her obvious, known best at
her game. She is a world renowned
attorney, skilled “First Woman” pilot of highest rank, Entrepreneur,
incredible mixed media artist,
family matriarch, lifelong dedicated wife, loving mother, recent
grandmother and truly beautiful
person, a lady of grace, behind her
strong leadership position.
Beyond the Guinness Book and ributes worldwide, I am personally
delighted to express my heartfelt
congratulations to Mrs. C, a legend
beyond all standards of
excellence.
THE TRIBUNE
THE TRIBUNE
“Today”. PAGE 29
TRIBUNEʼS SANTA CLUAS CHRISTMAS COMMITTEE
WORK OF TRIBUNE’S SANTA CLAUS CHRISTMAS COMMITTEE, ITS LOYAL SPONSORS & VOLUNTEERS
The Xmas Party of the year!
Since 1993 our Publisher, loyal sponsors and volunteers have made it possibe for 45,197 children to have a Christmas Meal and Toys ★✦ We also raised $392,000
stemming from our ‘Breath Easy’ campaign - outfitting the PMH’s N.I.C unit - with state-of-the-art ventilators & incubators ★✦ In early 90’s, our ‘Adopt-A-Policeman’ Initiative raised over $1,000,000 to equip every officer with a bullet-proof vest ★✦ $341,OOO for new dialysis machines at the PMH / Rand Hospitals ★✦
Assisted with raising $711,000 for the Breast Cancer Initiative ★✦ Rebuilt 34 homes in St Cecilia thanks to generosity of the late Butch Kerzner ★✦ Helped with
the cost of removing 600 derelect vehicles from the Inner City ★✦ And, most recently, we partnered with HEAD KNOWLES in our S.0.S. Hurricane Initiative, receiving more than 150,000LBS in donations and $500,000 in a week
T
HE WORK of the Santa Claus committee, started
in 1963 in a back room of The Tribune by Sir Etienne Dupuch, has now grown into the largest
Christmas party in the Bahamas for underprivileged children.
The intention of Sir Etienne and his small committee was
to bring joy to as many poor children as possible at Christmas
time. Members of the community contributed toys and
money for the purchase of new toys. Even prisoners at HM
Prison, Fox Hill, turned out toys for the children from their
prison workshop. Committee women met annually at The
Tribune to sort and wrap the gifts and arrange for their delivery to homes that would have no Christmas.
The work ended in 1969.
Many years later, Robert Carron, one of Sir Etienne’s
grandsons, on his return from Notre Dame University in
1991, was going through his grandfather’s large file of charities, which he had either started or sponsored. His eye lit on
the work of the Santa Claus committee. He vowed to resurrect the charity to the memory of his grandfather.
Robert got a group of his friends interested and on that first
Christmas they loaded a truck with brightly wrapped gifts and
went into the poorer areas of New Providence to play Santa
Claus. As children ran behind their truck, Robert’s group was
heartbroken by the numbers that had to be turned away when
the last gift was handed out.
Robert and his small band realised that if they were to have
an impact, they had to enlarge the scope of their work.
In 1993, the Santa Claus committee with John Sitomer of
Gold’s Gym now on board, was relaunched. The committee
appealed to the public for funds. As usual the public was
generous. That first Christmas — and many Chistmases afterwards — Gold’s Gym was turned into a Christmas wonderland. It was amazing who willingly gave up their Christmas
day to go to the Gym to help serve the poor, and who contributed food and drinks for the large party. There were bank
managers and their wives, CEO’s of companies, hoteliers, and
men and women from almost every section of the community
— from Lyford Cay to Grants Town — united in a common
cause to serve the poor. Even visitors from abroad, here to
spend Christmas with family or friends, gave up the day to
carve turkeys for the children.
And so the work grew until it was too large for Gold’s Gym.
For Christmas 2000 it was relocated to a large room at Atlantis on Paradise Island. By now the committee was not only
taking care of almost 2,000 children, but it also included some
of the elderly.
Before the party for the children, Santa Claus, with a bag
of toys first visits the children’s ward of the Princess Margaret
Hospital, where Christmas Carols are sung and gifts are distributed.
And so from a tiny acorn planted in a back room at The
Tribune a worthwhile oak has been nurtured and is now bearing good works. Since 1993, the public has donated almost
half a million dollars, either in cash, food or toys, to make this
large luncheon party and 45,197 children had have a Xmas
gift and holiday meal; whilst thousands of gifts distributed to
children and the elderly possible.
VOLUNTEERS relax after a Christmas Day party which left a lot of underprivileged children happy
TWO young winners beam with delight
HUNDREDS of bikes waiting for winners
T
Big & Small
DUNKIN’ FOR BOOBIES @ RADIO HOUSE
Let’s Save Them All
From AAs to DDs, the Big “C”
Cancer is killing our Women
$1,011,065.60
$1,000,000
$900,000
$800,000
$700,000
$600,000
$500,000
$400,000
$300,000
$200,000
$100,000
The Bahamas has the highest rate of breast cancer in the world. We have an aggressive form of the disease which manifests at an
unusually early age! Medical industry professional Michele Rassin described the ten-year-old PMH mammogram machine as
obsolete by today’s health care standards, and needs to be replaced. Women are waiting months for a mammogram; environmental education is required and a genetic testing registry is urgently needed.
23%
Some of the Facts:
Breast Cancer Rates are the HIGHEST IN THE WORLD!
(Israel #2 12%) Almost 1 in 4 will face this enemy.
20%
12%
34%
of Bahamian women have the BRACA 1/2 gene versus 5-6% rate
in the world. This means, Bahamian women have an “abnormally
high risk versus any other country in the world.”
Source: Cancer researcher Dr Steven Narod
of USA women under 44 are diagnosed with breast cancer.
of Bahamian women under 44 years of age are diagnosed with
breast cancer.
Our Goal
$711,065.60
Quote from
PMH Foundation
$1,011,065.60
REQUIREMENTS
$711,065.60 Digital Mammogram Machine
$150,000.00 Genetic Testing (BBCIF Initiative)
$150,000.00 Environmental Education /
Recycling Containers for Oil,
Anti Freeze (BBCIF Initiative)
$1,011,065.60 Fundraising Goal
“HOLLA with a DOLLAR” - Together we can save lives
DONATE!
THANK YOU BAHAMAS
FOR YOUR SUPPORT
Because of your generous support,
we have spent $164,000
to purchased 8 new Dialysis Machines
for the PMH Dialysis Unit.
From l to r: Todd Anderson, Vice President - Renal Dynamics; Sister Christine
Fernander, Nursing Officer - PMH; Christopher Davenport, Director of Sales &
Services - Renal Dynamics; Mark Roberts, Tile King/FYP.
$342,915.29
Cheques payable to The Tribune Radio Limited re: “Breast Cancer Fund”
Account #5625.289.070.5 RBC Main Branch... Contact Michelle Rassin 422-0662
7 DAYS, 150,000+lbs & GOAL RAISED....
THANK YOU!
.
We Just Want to Say
AMAZING!!!
0K
D OVER $50
WE’VE RAISE
Starbucks * Athena Café
* Nassau Paper Company * Chef Brenford
Hall * Chef Jamal Petty
* Thompson Trading *
Lightbourne Trading
* Gina Jenkins & The
Mamas, Melanie Roach
* Brothers of Sigma
Phi Beta* Zeta Sisters,
Paul & Trixie Clarke
* RAS Corporte Services Limited * Geoffrey
Jones & Company *Leo
Carey Jr (T/A Y Cares)
* Frank Hanna Cleaning Company * Security
Systems International
* The Poop Deck, Janet
Fowler/Melissa Sears *
Tribune Radio Limited
* Eric & Joy Cottel *
Frederick Lightbourne
* TLC Family Church *
Frank Nopell * Napco
* Millon Express &
Votorantim Bank
$500,000
THE TRIBUNE
TRIBUTES
MONSIGNOR PRESTON A. MOSS
Protonotary Apostolic (PA), CMG,
Vicar General
THE PAPER BOY WHO BECAME A PRIEST RECALLS THE 1950S
M
onsignor Preston
Moss, a convert
to
Catholicism,
is the first Bahamian to become Vicar General and a Monsignor of the
Catholic Archdiocese. He was
ordained to the priesthood on
June 4, 1965 by Bishop Paul
Leonard Hagarty, OSB, at the
age of 26. He is now rector of St
Anselm’s Church, Fox Hill.
In 1982 he was chosen by Pope
John Paul II to represent the Vatican as part of a two-man delegation
at Belize’s independence celebrations on September 21. The choice
of the popular Bahamian priest
marked the fi rst time that the Pope
was represented at a Caribbean independence celebration by someone from the region.
Aware of the policy of the Catholic Church to appoint a native son
to serve the local church as its bishop, Msgr Moss, realising that with
the increasing ill health of Bishop
Leonard Hagarty, that Papal eyes
soon would be looking his way, petitioned Rome to let the bitter cup
pass him by.
My only desire, he said at the
time, is to serve our church and land
to the best of my ability as a priest.
By the grace of God I will continue
gladly to assist in the growth of a
truly Bahamian Catholic community and the development of our
country wherever I can.
I worked for the paper when it
was only 50 years old.
From 1952-1953 I worked in the
Circulation Department as a paper
boy, delivering papers on a route
which took me from the Drake Hotel (near present day Arawak Cay)
all the way to the home of Frank
Christie (the present day house of
Rita Marley near the mall out west
which houses SuperValue and Pizza
Hut). Back in those days very few
Bahamians even knew what pizza
was, much less tasted one.
During the school week, I left St
John¹s College, went home, ate supper, then headed to The Tribune. (I
also delivered papers on Saturday).
While I waited for the 135 papers I
did my homework in fact, my paper
route paid for my last two years of
school.
Then the one to two hour journey
would begin.
There were three hotels on my
route and numerous residences of
wealthy Bahamians and expatriates. Besides the Drake, there was
the Bahamas Country Club (BCC),
owned by the Oakes family and
present day site of Breezes and the
Balmoral, now home to Sandals.
Just as Breezes and Sandals are exclusive clubs so were the BCC and
Balmoral. Except that these hotels
catered exclusively to the wealthy
and the very wealthy. The BCC was
where I fi rst tasted a club sandwich,
then considered a treat reserved
for the rich and famous. How times
have changed.
But back in 1952-1953 times
had not yet changed: we had not
achieved majority rule, black Bahamians could not or did not live
along my paper route, women could
not vote, and mass tourism was still
some years away.
How times have changed.
Then there were the small things:
there were few cars along my route,
I would see personalities like Sir
Sidney Oakes on a regular basis,
and if my deliveries ran late, with
the permission of my grandparents,
I slept out at the Western Police
Station where I was offered a meal
and a cot.
Not that there was crime to be
afraid of come to think about it the
only thing we were really afraid of
was spirit walking. A young person
simply shouldn’t be on the street
that far out late at night. How times
have changed.
So the history of The Tribune is
also a part of the history of the Bahamas. I am grateful to have played
a part in our national development
and The Tribune; and for Mrs. Eileen Dupuch Carron’s years of service to the field of journalism in
particular and Bahamian history
in general. I just hope that on the
150th anniversary they ask me once
again to reminisce about my fond
memories of The Tribune.
LARRY A. SMITH
A
ccording to the
American writer
Norman Mailer:
“If a person is not
talented enough to be a novelist, not smart enough to be
a lawyer, and his hands are
too shaky to perform operations, he becomes a journalist.”
Well, in Eileen Carron’s case,
she was a lawyer before becoming a journalist - and she
was steady enough to learn to
fly and could have become the
first woman licensed pilot in the
Bahamas but for her calling to
Tribune duty by her late father.
Now in her 80s, she writes
regularly and cogently about
national affairs. However, it is
probably true that she has little
interest in directing her talents
Media Enterprises
towards creative writing.
Who needs fiction when we
have the real world to draw
upon every day?
For the past decade I have
produced a regular column for
The Tribune - focusing on politics, the environment and social
issues. It has been a worthwhile
experience for me, and hopefully for the paper’s readers.
Eileen also writes a regular
column, which serves as The
Tribune’s chief editorial voice.
Her incisive comments are
grounded in long and deep experience of running a national
newspaper.
The Tribune has never interfered with the content of my
contributions - unless a legal
issue was involved, which was
rarely the case. But Eileen was
always available to offer advice
and counsel if needed.
Under both the pre-1967 and
post-1967 regimes, The Tribune
came under significant pressure
from the political authorities of
the day. In my adult experience
during the quarter-century of
PLP rule, the government strove
to discredit The Tribune and
drive its owners out of business
and out of the country.
It is to their credit that Eileen
and her late husband, Roger,
stoutly resisted these pressures,
even though their political position may have been unpopular
at the time.
As a journalist, therefore, the
greatest tribute I can give to the
Dupuch-Carrons is to to affirm
the major role they have played
in keeping dissent alive in this
country. In my view, that is Eileen’s chief contribution to national development.
DENNIS CROSS
Former Senior Partner, KPMG
T
hroughout the 50 years of my association
with The Bahamas, 25 as resident and another 25 subsequently as a frequent visitor, The Tribune has been a permanent
fixture. (It was indeed a fixture for many years before that too, of course).
On arrival in 1966 one of the first things I would
have done was to read a copy of the paper to find out
what was going on. I used to buy my copy from the
paper boys on Shirley Street, travelling from West to
GLADYS DARVILLE
Former Administrative Assistant
to Butch & Sol Kerzner
She’s small in stature but large in the
world of journalism. Yes, I am talking
about my friend, Eileen Dupuch Carron.
It is my privilege and
honor to recognize
this mighty woman
for all her accomplishments over the
years among which
is that of being the
longest serving editor in chief of any
newspaper. In spite of the hours she keeps, writing
her editorials, and the daunting task of running The
Tribune, Eileen still makes time to be a homemaker,
true friend, loving and caring mother
and
recently
Aidan’s
grandmother.
I want to congratulate you, Eileen, on
this auspicious occasion and wish you
love and happiness in the years to come.
East in those days, on my way home from work in the
evening.
As an auditor with Peat Marwick, later to become
KPMG, it was easy for me to appreciate the need for
a voice to challenge the actions and words of the
“powers that be”. Auditors, like newspaper editors,
are not always popular. It was evident that Eileen
Carron, as editor, like Sir Etienne before her, did not
flinch from that responsibility.
On a personal level my wife Phoebe and I sometimes had occasion to compare notes with Roger and
Eileen, on the youthful Nassau escapades of our three
sons, Stephen, Kevin and Jonathan, with their son
Robert. We have all moved on since then but the
memories remain.
We are delighted to have this opportunity to pay
our tribute to the enormous achievement of Eileen
Carron in leading The Tribune for well over 50 years.
This newspaper has made an exemplary contribution
to the people of The Bahamas as well as informing me
and my family throughout the years on “what is going
on”.
TOMMY & SARAH GALLAGHER
Construction & Property Development
W
e are such priviledged
people to know Eileen
Carron as a personal
friend for over thirty years,and
have spent many wonderful times
in her inspirational company.We
loved hearing her stories of fearless defiance in the interest of justice and democracy.The Bahamas
would be a poorer place without
her selfless devotion,pride and
love for her country who are very
fortunate to have had her as Editor of the Tribune for the last fifty
three years. Eileen Carron is an
icon not only in her own
country,but also in the media
world,admired by thousands of
media companies and press associations and most importantly
from the sixty third International
Press Institute World Congress.
We wish Eileen many more years
of success,pleasure and enjoyment
as a mother,grandmother and brilliant Editor.
ADAM DARVILLE
GM, Pinder Enterprises
MOM!!!
Over the years we have shared so
many fond memories and great events.
To many she is intimidating, strong,
forthright, insightful, adventurist, you
get the picture. For the past 25 years
I have been fortunate to know her as
mom, a side only a few know. Her
love for her family is number one followed by her love for the Bahamas.
When Robert and I as boys were up
to something she would simply say
boys and it spoke volumes, we knew
what she meant. On one of our trips to
Coral Gables Mrs. Carron had to pick
up a dress Mr. Carron had purchased
for her, not wanting her to go alone I
accompanied her. As we walked along
the beautiful steers of Coral Gables
we got lost in conversation as would
be the case at times as she shared her
vast knowledge with me. Mrs. Carron is perhaps one of the most accomplished women in the world not just
the Bahamas but I will always think of
her as Mom!
THE TRIBUNE
TRIBUTES
SIR ORVILLE TURNQUEST,
GCMG, QC, LL.B, JP
I
had the privilege of
meeting Mrs. Eileen
Carron, C.M.G., MSc.,
B.A.,
LL.B.,
more
than 70 years ago when, as
a young boy, I had an afterschool job as an apprentice
in the Printing Department
of The Tribune, and also took
part in proof-reading in her
father’s Editorial Department. Miss Eileen Dupuch,
as she then was, is a year
younger than I, and from the
very beginning of our association I recognized that she
was a woman of extraordinarily unique qualities destined for a great future.
This was demonstrated when
she became the second Bahamian
female lawyer to be called to The
Bahamas Bar, and is currently the
most senior female Barrister in
The Bahamas. She is the second
Bahamian female publisher/editor,
and also the longest serving.
She is the first Bahamian woman pilot. She was the first and
only Bahamian to graduate from
Colombia University School of
Journalism, NYC. Since then, her
commitment to journalism has
only been matched by her commitment to her late husband Roger, and her son Robert; and now
her grandson, Aiden, can expect
the same.
Eileen Carron has been recognized as one of the most influential women in The Bahamas. She
followed determinedly in the footsteps of her late father Sir Etienne
Dupuch, and her late grandfather,
Leon Dupuch. Both these gentlemen were champions for the
downtrodden, as Eileen was also
bound to become. They wanted
their fellowmen to recognize their
rights and to be able to freely express their views, and she has carried on that mission.
In June of 2012 at the International Press Institute 63rd Annual
World Congress Awards Dinner
he was given a special citation
posthumously as the longest serving editor in history. Mrs. Eileen
Carron was also cited at this ceremony as the longest current serving editor/publisher of a newspaper in the world. Both Sir Etienne
and Mrs. Carron were then also
cited for their “extraordinary and
remarkable courage under most
difficult conditions, for their lifetime dedication to the freedom of
the press set them as global flag
bearers for the principles of integrity, justice and human rights.”
Mrs. Eileen Carron’s entire life
has been dedicated to fighting social injustices and freedom of the
press. I have had the honour of
witnessing those battles. Her endurance with respect to the fight
waged in defense of those principles has not waned in the least.
On behalf of all right-thinking
Bahamians, we salute her for her
unwavering stand against all injustices in our Nation, and we
congratulate her on the occasion
of her 53rd year as Publisher/Editor of The Tribune.
MICHAEL F. LIGHTBOURNE
Deputy-Governor,
Central Bank of the Bahamas,
W
riting this tribute took me
back to a simpler time when
at 16 years old I spent my first
“work/experience” program
as an intern in the Accounts Department of
The Tribune. The internship lasted a mere
five days and while not working directly
with Mrs. Carron, I got to know her from a
distance; my immediate supervisor was a
Mr. Edmunds, the Comptroller; a tall English gentleman who managed the department like a surgeon on the operating table.
From my vantage point, I saw Mrs. Carron
as a serious, firm but fair, a young woman,
eager to learn the art of her father’s craft…..
the father being none other than the late Sir
Etienne Dupuch, well-known newspaper
publisher and editor.
Little did I know at the time that The Tribune was
to become a fixture in my youth-full development because I was welcomed back during my college breaks,
whether the breaks occurred at summer, Christmas
and Easter. Without knowing what I did to earn her
confidence and trust in those first five days, I knew
I must have impressed Mrs. Carron. Subconsciously
my going off to college in the UK may have had something to do with it (even though I never acquired the
British accent); but seriously, as a nationalist and heir
apparent, she was molding a young Bahamian and
launching his career in the field of finance and banking.
It was patently clear that Mrs. Carron dedicated her
life to her father’s Tribune, shaping it into the premier
news-media source in the country today. The business
now encompasses both written and broadcast media.
She built the business into a national icon and while
her lens focused on the events and happenings of the
day, she ought to be recognized and recorded as one
of the nation’s leading women in Bahamian history.
To have managed and ultimately taken over a major
media enterprise with the support of her late husband,
Roger, and the staff of a business dominated by men
is a tremendous achievement. She also did all of this
while growing a young family and staying current with
legal matters. I think therein lies her inner strength,
her family and her dedication to her father’s business.
She stayed true to the newspaper’s dictum….”being
bound to the dogmas of no master.” Throughout your
life experiences, you need not be reminded that “the
pen is (still) mightier than the sword.”
Mrs. Carron, I congratulate you on achieving such
a major milestone in your life and you deserve even
more recognition than you will receive. As for my
part, whenever there is an opportunity to assist your
family or the business, I will consider it a pleasure to
assist. Please enjoy the moment and take away lasting
memories as a result of it. The best of health to you
and yours.
CARLETON W. WILLIAMS
CBE, MBA
The DUPUCH family has by its rugged
self assurance and success in industry,
politics and journalism, for over a century and in direct succession, indelibly
etched its image on the Bahamian landscape in a manner probably unmatched by
any single family in this country’s history.
This legacy has defied enormous social economic and political changes over this wide timespan to
sway it from its single –minded determination to
make a meaningful difference in our society.
It is against this background that young EILEEN, on the retirement of her father, SIR
ETIENNE DUPUCH ,the Legendary editor of
THE TRIBUNE, assumed the mantle of leadership at this institution.
She very quietly and firmly disabused all and
sundry of and doubts as to whether she had the
RIGHT STUFF by firmly placing her stamp on
the task at hand.The rest at history!!!
Her peers around the world have quite properly
chosen to recognize her record- setting performance and longevity in which this country proudly shares.
I am honoured to join in this tribute and wish
MRS EILEEN DUPUCH-CARRON and her family every success in their journey forward.
H.E. PETER YOUNG, OBE
Former British High Commissioner
to Commonwealth of The Bahamas
T
HE first important task
of a diplomat
embarking on
an overseas posting is
to get to know the leading personalities who
play an influential role
in the receiving country - and, of course,
that includes members of the local press.
So it was that, in 1996 as a new
arrival in Nassau, I found myself
in the office of Eileen Carron
as Proprietor and Editor of The
Tribune who was accompanied
by her husband Roger, the Managing Director. I soon realised
that I was meeting highly skilled
and experienced journalists and
administrators who emanated a
warmth and friendliness to which
many must have been drawn over
the years. I felt an immediate
rapport with them and, to my
wife’s and my immense good fortune, we became close personal
friends.
I had earlier learnt of the importance of press freedom in a
democracy like the Bahamas and
that, for many years, The Tribune had been a leading voice in
support of good governance and
against any drift towards authoritarianism.
Taking over the helm from her
father in 1972, it must have soon
become apparent that not only
had Eileen been groomed for the
job - through his guidance and her
notably broad and varied education - and was well qualified for it
but that she was particularly well
suited to the editorship because
the newspaper continued to flourish despite endless difficulties
and setbacks. From my own more
recent observation, the standards
of journalism have been consistently high while modernisation
and expansion have contributed
significantly to its becoming the
excellent publication it is at present as the Bahamas’ leading
daily newspaper.
It did not take long to discern
Eileen’s many qualities - not only
highly intelligent but also calm,
imperturbable, consistent and
objective while showing sound
judgment and a capacity for hard
work in the face of endless press
deadlines. From the outset, clearly she possessed the skills to produce fine journalism including
the ability to craft incisive and
informative editorials; and these
became all the more influential
because people knew that she had
an unmatched knowledge of the
Bahamas and its history as well
as a legendary range of contacts.
No one can deny that in the
Bahamian media Eileen Carron
represents the fearless and uncompromising voice of reason
and justice, defending the truth
and ensuring that those in positions of power and influence are
held to account for their actions.
That is a heavy responsibility and
how wonderfully well she discharges it.
As the crusading voice of the
fourth estate in the Bahamas,
may she continue her splendid
work, which has earned her international recognition, for many
years to come.
TRIBUTES
RUSSELL MILLER
Chairman, Modalena Ltd
I
t is my great pleasure to offer a Tribute
to Mrs. Eileen Carron, C.M.G. on the
occasion of her 53 years of
journalist excellence and
the World’s Longest Serving
Editor and Publisher. This
is an accomplishment only
bettered by her late father,
Sir Etienne Dupuch. His 54
years as Editor and Publisher of The Tribune is still
recognized by the Guinness
Book of World Records.
God willing, Mrs. Carron
will surpass her father and
claim a new world record of
her own.
During the past 53 years, Mrs.
Carron has experienced firsthand,
the many challenges our Country
has faced. Through these years,
she herself has been challenged
with personal attacks from many
foes. However, through it all she
has weathered the challenges and
attacks, held her head up high and
mastered the professional art of
responding with the power of her
pen, and countered such attacks.
She has been a true pioneer for
all Bahamians, but for Bahamian
women in particular.
Mrs. Carron has led the way
in so many ways, being the first
Bahamian woman to achieve several milestones. She was the first
Bahamian woman to graduate
from NYU’s Columbia School
of Journalism,the first Bahamian
woman CEO of a private Radio
Station and the only Bahamian to
have her editorials read into the
records from the floor of the US
Senate just to name a few.
Our families have shared a relationship for decades. ln fact, it was
Mrs. Carron’s father, the late Sir
Etienne Dupuch that arranged for
my father, the late Sir Albert Miller, to have private and personal
classes with Sir Etienne’s good
friend, Fr. Frederick Fry, headmaster of St. Augustine’s College
early on in my father’s police career. This family relationship continues to this day.
I offer my congratulations to
Mrs. Carron, aka. the “lron Lady”
on her achievement of World
Longest Serving Editor and Publisher. Over these many years,
she has certainly been “Bound to
Swear to The Dogmas of No Master.” You have done us all proud!
SIR ARTHUR FOULKES, KCMG
Retired Govenor-General
S
ince its founding
in 1903 by the late
Leon E. H. Dupuch, The Tribune
has maintained the highest standards of journalistic ethics and has played
an almost indispensable
role in the social and political development of the
Bahamas.
It is extraordinary that in all
of this time this Bahamian institution has been in the hands
of one family and that each
succeeding
generation
has
been faithful to the ideals of its
founder.
Eileen Dupuch Carron represents the third generation of
her family to guide this institution having taken over as Editor
from her distinguished father,
Sir Etienne Dupuch, in 1962;
and, Publisher in 1972.
Under her leadership The
Tribune has been modernised
but remains a consistent defender of press freedom and
the rights and privileges of the
Bahamian people as well as the
strangers within our gates.
She has, like her father, tak-
en strong and sometimes even
crusading editorial positions.
But, remarkably, the separation
of opinion and news has been
scrupulously maintained in
the columns of the newspaper.
The Tribune has always been,
and under Mrs. Carron has remained, an open forum for the
expression of contending views.
Mrs. Carron, again like her father, has attracted international
recognition for her long and excellent service in the editorial
chair. The country owes her a
tremendous debt of gratitude.
PAMELA STUART
I
Best Friends Since Childhood
t gives me great pleasure to wish
Eileen Dupuch Carron the very
happiest of birthdays particularly as she is older than I am by
6 months!
I can hardly recall a time when she was not a
part of my life. For years we lived in the cottage
next to the Dupuch Family at Camperdown.
Those were great days. Eileen and I decided
to run away - got outside the gate, saw all the
bush and ran back into the house! Entertaining
“Uncle Gene Dupuch”, Eileen on the piano, and
me singing! Then Eileen went off to school in the
U.K. I followed shortly after. We saw each other
frequently in London where I met Roger.
Eileen deserves all the good things of this life.
She works hard day in and day out. I am so proud
to know her as I do - a very special friend.
Congratulations on your many accomplishments
over the years.
OF COURSE WE HAVE THE USUAL ENCOURAGING WORDS FROM......
HON. FRED MITCHELL, M.P..
Minister of Foreign Affairs & Immigration
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Courtesy of Mr. Elcott Coleby
As usual, Eileen Carron has taken a perverse and anti-Bahamian view of the facts with regard to two Cuban criminals
who are no longer in The Bahamas. There is no need to say
anything more with regard to the matter.
‘There was no misleading of the House, or the country. The only twisted interpretation is in the mind of Eileen Carron - as twisted
as a corkscrew.......”
10th March 2016
...........AND WHO CAN FORGET THESE UTTERANCES.
MR. BRADLEY ROBERTS.
Progressive Liberal Party (PLP)
“As an example Mr. Speak- has been the publisher and eder, we have a few would be ter- itor of the Tribune Newspaper
rorists using the media for the and her weapon over the years
express purpose of bringing a has been the Tribune itself.
sense of fear into the lives of For example Mr. Speaker, in
average Bahamians and when the September 25, 2003 editothey are
“
not doing
that, they
are then
‘One of the longest reining
using terpractitioner’s of terrorist behavrorist
tactics to
ior has been the publisher and
attempt
editor of the Tribune Newspaper
to intimiand her weapon of mass destrucdate any
one who
tion over the years has been the
chooses
Tribune itself’.
not to see
things
their way,
especially
if the possibility exist where their ways rial of the Tribune under the
may entail that laws be broken. title, ‘Time for BTC bids to be
For instance Mr. Speaker, made public,’ the terrorist of
one of the longest reining prac- Shirley Street said
titioner’s of terrorist behavior
SIR SOL KERZNER
When I first started doing business in the Bahamas in 1994, I was delighted to meet Mrs.
Carron and since that time have always appreciated the important contribution she have
made to your country in her 53 years as Publisher and Editor of The Tribune.
I built my first hotel in South Africa just over 50
years ago, so I can identify with your unfailing passion and commitment to the industry and business
that has been so central to her life. She have continued a family business for over 110 years now
and been the cornerstone of objective and respected media reporting in the Bahamas in the past 50
years.
I wish Mrs. Carron and her family ongoing success,
health and happiness and congratulations on this
award.
‘WORKS MINISTER BRADLEY ROBERTS SEEMS TO
BE THE MOUNTPIECE FOR
THOSE BTC EXECUTIVES
WHO BELIEVE THE COMPANY SHOULD REMAIN IN
THEIR HANDS.’
Mr. Speaker, this remark is tantamount to a terrorist throwing a
bomb into the first crowd of persons they see and object to, just
because their own agenda isn’t being satisfied. ...... ‘
Congratulations
MRS EILEEN
DUPUCH CARRON
for over 53 years
as
Editor and Publisher
of The Tribune.
THE
TRIBUNE
THE
TRIBUNE
WEDNESDAY,
16, 2016,
3737
Wednesday, MARCH
March 16th,
2016PAGE
PAGE
A True Artist! mith
s
d
r
o
w
e
t
a
m
The consum
nting
i
a
p
r
o
f
n
o
i
s
s
and her pa
THREE GENERATIONS — Sir Etienne Dupuch, pictured here in his early nineties, with Lady Dupuch, his
daughter, Eileen Carron, son-in-law, Roger Carron (left)
and grandson, Robert Carron. This photograph was taken
in the pressroom with the Goss Community press in the
background. Robert operated this press during his summer
vacations. Sir Etienne died on August 23, 1991 at the age
of 92.
THE TRIBUNE
TRIBUTES
MANAGING EDITOR OF THE BBC IN LONDON
& FORMER DEPUTY EDITOR OF THE TIMES.
BY KEITH BLACKMORE
T
HE DAY I met Eileen Dupuch Carron
it started to rain just as I left the house
for the restaurant. A few drops splattered on the road as we
set off. Within a few minutes that cooling shower had become a true Bahamian downpour, sheets of water thundering off the car roof. By the time we reached downtown
Nassau the road had turned into a brown river swirling
round the doors of our car and others around us. Traffic
came to a gurgling standstill. I still have the pictures on
my phone.
When at last I reached our rendezvous, late, dripping
wet and generally disconcerted, Mrs Carron was already
there to meet me - cool, elegant, and gently apologetic for
the inhospitality of the weather. This would soon pass,
she told me. Peering out at the apocalyptic scenes outside, I thought she was, to put it mildly, mistaken.
But looking back over her remarkable career and her
extraordinary contribution to the life of this country I see
now that this was a perfect introduction. As the waters
lapped the steps leading into Luciano’s on East Bay Street
and the rain drummed relentlessly on the roof above us,
all around Mrs Carron was calm.
A woman who has spent more than half a century at the
jagged edge of a profession as demanding as journalism
and a lifetime shattering glass ceilings is hardly going to
be troubled by a mere Biblical rainstorm or flood.
A long time ago, and for a few short years, I worked as a
journalist in Bermuda and edited one of the papers there,
The Bermuda Sun, and I know all too well the importance of giving islanders a voice they can trust, of holding
power to account, of staying close enough to people and
events to know what is going on without getting too close. It requires commitment, steely resolve, great resources
of energy and patience and not a little courage. I withdrew to calmer waters after what Mrs Carron would regard as the blink of an eye and I stand amazed before the
stamina and determination that has allowed her to lead
The Tribune for so long.
To have done so while writing with such verve and style
almost every day, and no doubt in the face of fierce and
perhaps sometimes unprincipled opposition, is truly a remarkable thing. But the greatest tribute to her achievement is there before you every day in the pages of The
Tribune. A country needs a voice. Mrs Carron has given
The Bahamas one - loud, clear, defiant and brave – for
more than 50 years. Our lunch that day was a memorable one. I learned
more in an hour or so of civilised discussion than I could
possibly have hoped. I thought then, as I think now, how
lucky you are to have her. When our meal was over and we stepped outside, the
rain had stopped and the waters had receded. The sun
was breaking through the clouds. Mrs Carron, I noticed,
had not even brought an umbrella.
Salutes our dear friend
Mrs. Eileen Dupuch-Carron
C.M.G., LLB.
For her myriad achievements and
contributions to the field of Journalism

eileen dupuch carron

Transcription

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