LAUGHLIN PASSES ON AT 88
BYE, KEN
By David Brewster
Saturday Express
August 22, 2001
Page 27
A who's who of Trinidad sport is expected to turn up at the Church of the Assumption in Maraval at 10 a.m. today to say a final farewell to sports personality Ken Laughlin.
The first man to broadcast a local sports event, Laughlin will be buried at the Layperouse Cemetery (private internment) following the service.
He had been battling Alzheimer's Disease for over a year, but he passed away Wednesday after suffering a mild stroke, his daughter Bernadette said. He was 88.
Although Laughlin was a good all-rounder, representing Queen's Park, Casuals and Harvard in hockey, football and cricket, it was as a broadcaster that he made his mark.
Operating from a makeshift booth at Queen's Park Oval, in 1937, a 24-year-old Laughlin with no previous experience or training, gave a terrific ball by ball commentary on a cricket match between Trinidad and Barbados.
The station received over 200 letters congratulating Laughlin on a superb job. It was the start of his association with radio which lasted close to 60 years.
He was honoured in 1987 with a Humming Bird Medal (silver) by the Government for his contribution to sport.
Born on April 26, 1913, Laughlin's demise certainly marks the end of the generation of prominent old time sports commentators and writers which included Raffie Knowles, Brunnell Jones, Albert "Bootins" Alkins, and Ken "Spotter" Edwards. It was Laughlin who introduced Knowles to radio back in the 1950s.
In his heyday, Laughlin did commentaries on almost every sport.
He reported on cricket, football, hockey, boxing, athletics and powerboat racing. He also interviewed great sportsmen like Joe Louis, Sugar Ray Robinson, Muhammad Ali, Hasely Crawford, Frank Worrell, Pelham Warner, Stanley Rouse, Brian Johnston and Gary Sobers.
Laughlin also found time to officiate as a Fifa referee, hockey umpire and was one of the country's top boxing judges.
He also coached Red Sox and Casuals hockey teams and was the organiser of the popular Wigan Cricket League.
Amazingly, he did all these things, while holding down his full-time job at Alston's Ltd. He gave 55 years service to Alston's, starting off in 1927 as a 14-year-old office boy.
Laughlin's Saturday night radio programme ran for 46 years and sport-loving ears across the nations would be glued to the radio for the theme song, "Tico...Tico", followed by his cherry "Hello Everybody."
It was also heard in Barbados, St. Kitts, Guyana, Dominica and Jamaica.
Laughlin often said that he loved sport so much that he would have done it for nothing.
His voice was also heard on the BBC (London) and the ABC in Australia.
In an interview in 1987, Laughlin said the sport he derived the most pleasure from doing commentary for was powerboat racing. He was obviously referring to his thrilling coverage of the annual Trinidad to Tobago Great Race events back in the 1970s.
"The excitement when the boats head for the winning line is always very intense," he said.
Monica (nee Pantin), his wife of 59 years, died last year. Daughter Bernadette, who is director of the Love Movement Choir, founded 29 years ago at the Laughlin's residence in Cascade, noted her parents were hoping to celebrate their 60th anniversary.
She described Laughlin as an "extraordinary father and grandfather. He never had any wealth or riches more than his family. He loved people and gave his life for his country and sport," she said.
A devout Catholic, Laughlin remained a tireless worker well into his last days, visiting the sick, distributing communion and assisting in church activities.
He is survived by his Venezuela-based brother George (Holly), his sister Gloria Braham (Jamaica), four children - Delia, Bernadette, Patricia and Martin; 11 grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.