Prominent Vincentian sports journalist Eardley Glenford Prescott, also known as “Pressie” and “Knowledge,” died at the Milton Cato Memorial Hospital in capital city Kingstown, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, on Jan. 30. He was 59.
Relatives and close friends said Prescott succumbed to cancer. His funeral took place, at the Kingstown Methodist Church in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, on Feb. 12. He was interred afterwards at the Kingstown Cemetery.
Frank “Monty” Clarke, a Washington, D.C.-based tax accountant and former sports administrator in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, told Caribbean Life that Prescott was not only a sports journalist but also a career civil servant.
“His extracurricular activities enveloped sports and culture, particularly in the Sion Hill community [in Kingstown], but also in the nation as a whole,” added Clarke, a former secretary / treasurer of the Sion Hill Sports Association.
In his later years, Clarke said Prescott “combined all these attributes to emerge as a social commentator on sports, culture and politics,” stating that his journalism career spanned almost 30 years.
Clarke said Prescott worked in print and radio, “with a national, regional and international reach.” Prescott was the St. Vincent and the Grenadines Sports Correspondent for the Barbados-based Caribbean Media Corporation.
“During all this time, he continuously served his beloved Sion Hill community, with devotion and distinction, for over four decades,” Clarke said.
In his formative years, he said Prescott “lived and bred Sion Hill,” adding that, while growing up, Prescott was “part of the ‘Three Musketeers.’” The other two were the late Clement Patrick and Earl “Caba” Sealey of Sion Hill.
Clarke said Prescott and his “two cohorts were like extended members to all Sion Hill teams,” shadowing the teams “wherever and whenever.”
“In a different era, ‘Pressie’ would have been a walk on to the Sion Hill cricket teams,” he said. “But, for the available talent during his adolescent years, he was not a regular fixture.”
However, Clarke said that was “a blessing in disguise, because, with more time at his disposal, he became one of the statisticians and archivists for Sion Hill sports and culture.
“And, along with ‘Caba’ Sealey, [Prescott] took on the task of equipment managers for the cricket teams,” Clarke said, stating that while Precott played all the main sports — cricket, football (soccer) and athletics, he excelled at table tennis.
“He was exceedingly knowledgeable on all things cricket, and on sports and current affairs in general,” Clarke continued. “Hence, it was no surprise that he rose to Sports Editor at NBC Radio (in St. Vincent and the Grenadines) during his 20-year tenure.”
Clarke said Prescott, who was also “an acolyte and mentee” of the recently deceased Lloyd ‘Manager’ Lewis, long-standing manager of the Sion Hill Cricket Team, provided institutional and critical support to Lloyd for over 40 years.
He said Lewis was instrumental in helping Prescott pursue journalism, “because, in his formative years, as a spectator, viewing the Sion Hill cricket team, he would participate in very loud debates on cricket or other topics, with John Wyttle, Winston Davis’s older brother.” Davis is a former West Indies fast bowler.
“On several occasions, ‘manager’ would have suggested to ‘Pressie’ to tone down the volume of their noise and further recommended that he ‘take all that knowledge and put it into a book or something, instead of walking around like an encyclopedia,’” Clarke said.
Additionally, Clarke said Precott was “a driving force” behind the Sion Hill Euphonium Steel Orchestra, serving, at one time, as the treasurer.
“’Pressie’ was no shrinking violet when it came to a debate,” he said. “He would hold steadfastly to his point of view with the best opponent, and always presented his case with appropriate examples and facts – never afraid to ‘mix it up.’”
