Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport Olivia Grange has described late producer, director, writer and narrator, Carey Robinson, as a man who was “dedicated to the very end”.

Robinson, who died yesterday at age 97, was the producer and narrator of the television programme, Hill an’ Gully Ride, a product of the Creative Production and Training Centre, which has aired on TVJ for more than 20 years.

“Dedicated to the very end, he only stopped producing Hill an’ Gully Ride at the advent of the COVID pandemic,” Grange said yesterday as many others also paid tribute to the man’s whose voice had for so many years been a familiar feature behind the life stories being told of so many rural Jamaicans.

“Even though he lost his sight, he was still scripting and narrating the programme which shines a light on the folk in villages across Jamaica. It was a marvel to watch him — a man who lost his sight — produce a television programme.”

ENORMOUS LEGACY

But Grange noted that Hill an’ Gully Ride was only part of Robinson’s enormous legacy.

She noted that he was an ace producer who left his mark on film and documentary making in Jamaica.

“His films, Flashpoint 38, about the labour riots of 1938; and Time of Fury, about the Morant Bay Rebellion, are still required viewing,” said the culture minister, who was joined in paying tribute to Robinson by Prime Minister Andrew Holness.

PRESERVING THE HERITAGE OF THE JAMAICAN PEOPLE

Grange also recalled Robinson’s role in establishing the television section of the Jamaica Information Service and his service as general manager of the former Jamaica Broadcasting Corporation.

“In his long life, Carey Robinson, captured and presented the story of Jamaica from our perspective. His effort to preserve, through film and television, the heritage of our people was immense; and he leaves an important body of work.”

Grange expressed condolences to Mr Robinson’s family and his former colleagues at the CPTC.