Godfrey Wray GCA Exemplary Award

Godfrey Wray 2017 Guyana Cultural Association Exemplary Award Profile

The ninth anniversary of the publication of ‘Beyond Revenge’ was March 2017. It is Godfrey Wray’s first published novel and recent reviews tell more about the man who is known mostly as a journalist. The fictional story in the book, and his remigration to his birthland and former place of employment, indicate how substantial were the foundations in his life. He treasures the values instilled in him that influence his range of professional accomplishments.

At this time of his maturity, he is actively applying his formidable talents to restore the standards that guided his youth and impressive career path. Outstanding tenures in editing, journalism, and publishing were complemented by periods of commercial entrepreneurship. In that sector for three decades, he has been a wholesale merchant who employed women as full-time staff in Guyana to manage the enterprise; a sports publisher; and co-owner and editor-in-chief for the former Impact News a New York journal.

Mr. Wray’s career in the print media ranks him among the best in Guyana. The excellence of his work was achieved by his knowledge of the cultural, political, social, and geographic landscapes. His effectiveness over the decades, and today, is a balance of being self-effacing and self-confident.

Godfrey Wray is a proud son of Albouystown, Georgetown who attended St. Stanislaus College for his secondary education. He obtained a Public Communications diploma from the University of Guyana; and a Journalism and Communications one from the Indiana University.

In pursuit of his professional objectives to overcome his modest family conditions, Mr. Wray applied the values of his upbringing and the Catholic faith. Starting as a proofreader, he moved up the management chain to editor and at a contentious time – 1963 to 1986. In addition to managing a large staff, he was responsible for reporting political news events and contributing editorials at the Guyana Chronicle / Sunday Chronicle. The challenges in this combative political period compounded the responsibility for confirming the veracity of material to be printed. He was accountable for maintaining a system based on honesty and fairness. Mr. Wray’s on-going success was accomplished by displaying integrity, always.

During his journalism tenure, he traveled frequently and widely to countries such as Zambia, North Korea and the USA accompanying government officials. He was a talented table tennis player at the national level. Table Tennis tournaments took him to Nigeria, Colombia, and Puerto Rico. His love of sports, with a special interest in West Indian cricket, took him around the Caribbean in that time of its glory. In his global travels, Mr. Wray gained unique sensitivities to human behavior. His visits to various Guyanese communities are also very important to his understanding of the personality of his compatriots.

Editorial and commentary publications, as well as his authorship, demonstrate that he is more than the perceived newspaper editor. There are elements of originality in his description of the Guyanese features that are changing or those that can be transformed: church-going attire or creating an urban village. All expressed in compelling words.

A recent review of ‘Beyond Revenge’ characterizes aspects of his writing as that of a “travelogue… he describes the indigenous way of life and the interior locations so graphically and realistically, and with such evident knowledge of their Eden-like ambience, that anyone would want to experience the divine grandeur of Guyana….”

In recommending the book, the reviewer concludes: “He interweaves the various lifestyles of the Guyanese communities – from the ghetto [Albouystown] to the beauty of the Amerindian way of life in a manner that will enable the Caribbean Diaspora to feel at home and the wider readership to discover something both riveting and edifying.”

Godfrey Wray’s life story and quiet accomplishments are exemplary of high ideals and show him as a man exhibiting the best of his boyhood days, then and now. He has courageously confronted the abandonment of “protocol, respect and reverence [that] are supposed to be maintained” in a social institution. On that country-wide mode of degradation he has taken a stance.

In his current role, he has brought best practices competencies. In line with a strategic focus, his work has rebranded the newspaper. In working assiduously to re-position the paper, he has taken a positive revenge on low norms and that elicits much pride for Guyanese.

Honoree approved nomination for submission. Content composed by Ronald H. Lammy

https://guyanachronicle.com/2017/09/02/guyana-cultural-association-honours-chronicle-editor-other-outstanding-guyanese/