ANTHONY HARFORD, football administrator and former broadcaster, has hailed his close friend the late sports broadcaster Dave Lamy for the “masterful job” he did during his long career.
David “Dave” Andre Lamy, who made his name with his radio and television commentaries on horseracing, football and cricket, died on November 1 at 83. His funeral took place today at the Holy Trinity Cathedral in Port of Spain.
“Your work has been done. You’ve done a masterful job,” said Harford during the eulogy.
Harford, who described Lamy as “indisputably the patriarch of the sports media in TT,” spoke of his early interactions with the veteran broadcaster.
“I went to work at Radio Trinidad, on the Voice of Rediffusion, as a 17-year-old, 50 years ago, and that’s where I met Dave,” Harford said. “Our connection has lasted, strengthened along the way and became a bond of brotherhood towards the end.
“What I learnt about Dave is that he, unlike most people, understood how life should be lived – fully, with purpose, with enthusiasm.
In his career, he said, Lamy was "an unrelenting, unbending professional. He never gave up, even when the circumstances were difficult.”
Harford said Lamy started a trend of drawing the colours of the jockey’s attire on the racing books, to assist him during his racing commentaries.
Harford also touched on the countless events he hosted jointly with Lamy, including the annual WITCO (now First Citizens) Sports Foundation awards, Queen’s Park Cricket Club awards and Jetsam awards.
“Along the way, Dave accomplished so much more than just being the sports broadcaster on the air,” said Harford. “His achievements included live broadcast of the World Netball Championships 1979 (here in Trinidad) and 1983 (in Singapore), the first Trinidadian to cover the Commonwealth Games live from Australia (Brisbane, 1982), the first Trinidadian to cover the Olympic Games from Moscow (1980). He subsequently did the Olympics in Los Angeles (1984) and a (litany) of various sporting events.”
Harford said Lamy's first love became horseracing, "And together we travelled all across the Latin American countries to cover the Classico Internacional. Dave would arrive the day before, and by race afternoon, he would have everything organised and delivered in a package that was acceptable to people at all levels.”
He described Lamy as "a persistently generous man, in a quiet sort of way. His list of giving ran deep."
Lamy was a voracious reader. "He has an incredible collection of books in his library.
"One of his concerns was the future of sports journalism (in TT). There were concerns when we came on board as young boys as well, that we weren’t cutting it.
"The truth is, Dave, you can rest in peace, because there are young ones and they’ll be just fine.”
Lamy was also a former footballer, cricketer and hockey player, and a staunch lover of pan.
Also paying tribute to Lamy were legendary racehorse trainer Joseph “Joe” Hadeed, First Citizens Sports Foundation member Dr Terry Ali and former FIFA vice-president and Concacaf president Jack Warner.
Hadeed mentioned, “When I visited him at Mt Hope (hospital) a few weeks ago, he only had praise for the staff and the doctors that looked after him, and the environment. That was Dave.
“He’ll sadly be missed by all. He was the voice of racing.
"It was an honour and a privilege to be considered your friend.”
Ali commented, “Dave served on the foundation for over 40 years. He started when we were first known as the WITCO Sports Foundation, from 1976-2004, (and) continued to serve when we became known as the First Citizens Sports Foundation.
“He was the chairman of the Hall of Fame committee until he retired from the foundation in 2016,”
Ali added. “Being a media person, Dave was always able to give a different perspective on any discussion. He was thorough in his research and firm, yet fair in his decision-making. He adhered to the facts, not driven by emotion and when he took a stance on an issue, it was difficult, if not impossible, to change that stance unless you confronted him with strong and overwhelming facts. And this rarely ever occurred.”
Warner touched on Lamy’s caring personality, and his dedication to sports media.
A number of sporting and media personalities attended the funeral including TT Olympic Committee president Brian Lewis, former TT Cricket Board president and WI cricketer Deryck Murray, Olympic medallist Edwin Skinner, ex-TT football team captain Sedley Joseph, Newsday’s editorial consultant Jones P Madeira and former National Carnival Commission chairman Kenny De Silva.
Lamy leaves to mourn his daughters Nicole and Lisa, stepdaughters Rhonda Rattan and Michelle Tilokee, and stepson Kyle Moona.