by Clayton Goodwin
Ron Shillingford – had I heard of him? – boxer Wayne Alexander asked during our recent interview. Well, yes, he was a press colleague for a good few years back and a name synonymous with the UK West Indian media. Yes, too, but Wayne wanted me to write about his more recent foray into Caribbean cuisine. Fortunately, he had Ron’s phone-number and we fixed an appointment to talk about boxing and cuisine, and just about everything about which we could think. That wasn’t as easy as it sounds because the wet and coldly windy winter day in London wasn’t conducive to serious recollection… but when you get two journalists together who cares about the weather?
Ron kicked off our conversation by presenting us with a copy of Land of Hope and Glory the autobiography of Maurice Hope, the former light-middleweight boxing champion, which he had put together. Is that the same thing as ghosted – either way it provides an easy, yet informative and professional, account of the Antiguan’s life and career set against the background of East London and the known world. Hope, one of London’s most popular pugilists to have laced on a pair of gloves, has provided an inspiration to the generations that have followed him. Not that we are going to tell you too much here, as you would need to obtain your own copy for the full flavour. The lay-out of the front cover heralds the content inside – bright but not flashy.
We had both arrived at our meeting outside a well-known café at London Victoria mainline station, by way of the city’s well-merited public transport system, by using our Freedom Pass for senior citizens. Senior citizens? Were we really that old? It seems only yesterday – and, in my case, a shave – away that Ron Shillingford (boxing), Rodney Hinds (football) and myself (cricket) – gave the UK West Indian press a sports reporting and commentary service of which it could be proud. We loved our own sport and could each double for the others’ speciality when the occasion arose. Of course, there was always the odd bad egg in the basket, and we discussed those as well, but here isn’t the place to disclose. Also, sitting with our lime juice and tonic, we were far removed from the hard-drinking journalists of popular conception.
Shillingford has had a long and varied career in the media, being associated, often in an editorial capacity, with The Voice, The New Nation and The Caribbean Times – the last-named folded in 2006 as this sector of the market struggled, without conspicuous success, to come to terms with the demands of the new century. Yet Ron worked also with Trans World Sport which provided the his highlight of interviewing Muhammad Ali on hid Champions Forever tour with Joe Frazier and George Foreman. He followed his service with the London-based press with eight further years as sports editor of the Cayman Compass during which time he covered the Winter Olympics 2010 in Vancouver and London Olympics in 2012.
Ron’s writing output contains several biographies including Counting My Blessings of Chuck Anyia, council house to property tycoon, The Elite Forces Handbook of Unarmed Conflict, martial arts, which has been translated into several languages including Japanese, and From Prison to Premiership of footballer Jamie Lawrence. The age of retirement – if not the fact – does not sit easily of Shillingford. Though he welcomes the chance of spending more time with Liz and their families at home in North-west London. Ron still freelances in journalism, is a stadium tour guide for “my beloved” Chelsea football club (I dared not tell him that I have visited Stamford Bridge ground only twice, and neither time was it to see football – once the West Indian cricket team in a pioneering night-time floodlight match, and the other for a fashion show). On top of that, and his cuisine enterprise, he runs a Retiring Ron monthly letter on his Tropical Creole Media website, and travels extensively to the Caribbean, Uganda and Kenya. Thanks, Ron, for finding the time to have this chat.
Now I’ve got to go – that is my train that has just been signalled. Yes, we must find time to meet again to continue the story about that …. and that …. and, of course, that, as well ….