The voice of Jamaican television program, Hill an’ Gully Ride, Carey Fitz William Robinson, has died.
The journalist, author and historian passed away in his sleep at his St Andrew home on Thursday at the age of 97.
He had been ailing for some time.
Robinson has had an impactful, decades-long career in media as a journalist and manager but was most famous for his work as the producer and narrator of the community program, Hill an’ Gully Ride.
It delved into Jamaican history fused with exciting stories of people, their lives and work and how they interacted in their communities in every nook and cranny of Jamaica.
A Calabar High School alumnus, Robinson grew up in British Jamaica and later attended Howard University where his intention was to study medicine.
Instead, he pursued history and psychology and on returning to Jamaica embarked on a quest that would help him to make a contribution to nation-building.
He landed a job at The Gleaner, before becoming a broadcaster at Radio Jamaica and later, an employee of the Government’s Public Relations Office, now the Jamaica Information Service.
Robinson was head of the Public Relations Office from around 1962 to 1971 when he was made general manager of the Jamaica Broadcasting Corporation, a post he held until 1987.
He later served overseas in Jamaican embassies in Washington DC and Mexico City.
Robinson has done extensive research on the Maroons and penned their history in the book, The Fighting Maroons of Jamaica.
He is also the author of The Iron Thorn and Memoirs of a Media Man.
Carey Robinson had been conferred with the Order of Distinction (Commander Class) and the Silver Musgrave Medal. He has also been awarded by the Press Association of Jamaica.
His wife predeceased him more than a decade and they were the parents of one daughter, Katherine.
