Howard Campbell, Gleaner Writer
LAST FRIDAY Richard Ashenheim, a longstanding member of the Gleaner Company's board of directors, left Jamaica to live in the British dependent island of Bermuda.
Mr. Ashenheim, 78, says he and his wife, Ursula, decided to leave Jamaica at the prompting of their sons: Michael, who lives in London, and Lewis, who makes his home in Orlando, Florida.
"First of all ,my boys are living abroad and basically I have no (family) ties here. Where I'm going is half-way between them," he told The Gleaner last week. He said there was another reason for his departure: "I've become disillusioned with the violence and my sons have also become concerned."
Mr. Ashenheim's resignation from the Gleaner Company's board of directors means that it will be the first time since the company started in 1834, that a member of his family will not be among its administrators.
His great-grandfather, Lewis Ashenheim, was a Scotsman of Jewish origin who came to Jamaica in the 1820s. Lewis Ashenheim was a physician who practised in Trelawny and married a Decordova, the family that started the newspaper 171 years ago.
SERVED IN SEVERAL CAPACITIES
Richard Ashenheim has served The Gleaner in several capacities. After graduating from Oxford University and being admitted to the Jamaican Bar in 1950, he represented the company as a lawyer in commercial, libel and tax cases.
In 1962, Mr. Ashenheim was appointed an alternate director of The Gleaner by his father, Neville, who was then chairman of the publication's board. He became a full director in 1967, sitting in as chairman on several occasions. Some of his 'acting' roles came in the turbulent 1970s when the socialist government of Prime Minister Michael Manley took The Gleaner to task.
During the 1976 State of Emergency, the Government introduced a law that precluded media from publishing 'certain things' without permission. "A lot of the State of Emergency laws were directed against the media, that's what made that period so challenging," said Mr. Ashenheim. "It was a difficult time for The Gleaner."
Mr. Ashenheim recalls that management at The Gleaner and the Manley government clashed on several issues, which led to Manley leading a march on the company's offices.
"They thought we were anti-government, but I thought if they were misbehaving we had the right to damn well attack them," Mr. Ashenheim snapped.
MEDIA MORE COMPETITIVE
Media has opened up considerably in Jamaica since the 1970s, with a flood of radio stations and small publications emerging in the last 15 years. According to Mr. Ashenheim, this has made the profession more competitive.
"I find that the radio stations are far more aggressive and critical, and that's a good thing," he said.
Mr. Ashenheim stopped practising law in December 2000 but still has time for another of his passions: athletics. He has been involved in the sport since his days at Jamaica College where he did a 'bit of running'. He has covered eight Olympics for The Gleaner, the last being in Sydney, Australia in 2000.
Mr. Ashenheim is a former president of the Jamaica Amateur Athletic Association. He is still a member of the International Association of Athletics Federations' arbitration panel.
