One of Toronto's best known voices and community journalists, Colin Rickards, passed away suddenly at his home in Toronto on Thursday night. Doctors said Rickards suffered a massive heart attack and died almost instantly.
A columnist with The Caribbean Camera newspaper for the last 15 years, Rickards was best known for his series on "Caribbean People", and was considered Canada's leading authority on Caribbean history and affairs. He was once nominated for an Order of Canada.
A former CBC radio contributor to the now defunct Radio Canada International, the British-born Rickards spent decades as a correspondent for numerous Caribbean newspapers for several major British dailies, before migrating to Canada, where he put his knowledge on the history on the region into a number of well-received books.
Rickards was also well known in literary circles in Canada, and was a personal friend of many of the world's best known writers, including CLR James, VS Naipaul and Samuel Selvon. He was often the "go-to" guy for information on the Caribbean for many of Canada's leading newspapers, television stations and radio stations.
"Life goes on, but it is going to be difficult without him," said Caribbean Camera editor Raynier Maharaj. "Colin was an integral part of this newspaper, and he gave me a lot of ideas when we first started this paper in 1990. More than that, we've been friends for 22 years. I will miss his friendship and his professional advice. There is none in Canada better than Colin when coming to knowing the history and current affairs of the Caribbean."
Rickards leaves to mourn his wife Ida and son Damien. Funeral arrangements are still to be announced.
A columnist with The Caribbean Camera newspaper for the last 15 years, Rickards was best known for his series on "Caribbean People", and was considered Canada's leading authority on Caribbean history and affairs. He was once nominated for an Order of Canada.
A former CBC radio contributor to the now defunct Radio Canada International, the British-born Rickards spent decades as a correspondent for numerous Caribbean newspapers for several major British dailies, before migrating to Canada, where he put his knowledge on the history on the region into a number of well-received books.
Rickards was also well known in literary circles in Canada, and was a personal friend of many of the world's best known writers, including CLR James, VS Naipaul and Samuel Selvon. He was often the "go-to" guy for information on the Caribbean for many of Canada's leading newspapers, television stations and radio stations.
"Life goes on, but it is going to be difficult without him," said Caribbean Camera editor Raynier Maharaj. "Colin was an integral part of this newspaper, and he gave me a lot of ideas when we first started this paper in 1990. More than that, we've been friends for 22 years. I will miss his friendship and his professional advice. There is none in Canada better than Colin when coming to knowing the history and current affairs of the Caribbean."
Rickards leaves to mourn his wife Ida and son Damien. Funeral arrangements are still to be announced.
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