Sunday Times 2
Louis found light in blindness to champion social justice and activism in journalism
View(s):- Appreciation
Louis Benedict was my friend, my mentor and my guide in journalism until he passed away in the early hours of April 22, probably providently a day after Pope Francis’s earthly life ended, for both had similar views on matters spiritual and issues besetting the world.
Ours was a nearly 40-year friendship. Today I am what I am in journalism largely because of him.
I first met Louis the day I joined as a subeditor for the Sunnewspaper published by the now-defunct Independent Newspapers Limited at Hulftsdorp. The first to extend the hand of friendship to the batch of newcomers was Louis, a lively presence at the subs desk. His friendly mannerism was so appealing that before long, I found myself often in his company. This was the time when Louis’ eyesight was deteriorating due to a condition called retinitis pigmentosa, a rare genetic disorder that affects the retina, leading to progressive vision loss. We, his Sun boys, became his white cane, taking him to wherever he wanted to go. Often, I took him to the Philip Neris church in Pettah on Sundays.
Louis Benedict: The veteran mentor under whose guidance many a journalist flourished
He was then the deputy editor of the Sun, arguably the best English-language newspaper produced by a team of journalists committed to professionalism. We who worked under Louis’ supervision loved the nightshift he reigned over. The subeditors looked to him for his much-talked-about headlines, be it the page one lead, the sports page lead or a feature story. Often the headline writing was a team and brainstorming effort, and often it was Louis who would come up with the best headline.
I knew nothing about journalism. Louis taught me the basics. He took me under his wings and guided me throughout my career. He infused in me journalistic courage and shared with me the finer points. Though he is not with me today, as long as I am in journalism, I will see him in every sentence I edit and write.
He would advise us to write short sentences, avoid clichés, use simpler words, edit fearlessly, make the first paragraph attractive, mind the syntax, and be creative in headline writing.
Life at the Sun with Louis was one of merriment. After the long night shift, Louis and the Sun boys would retire to his quarters adjoining the office, and till dawn there would be a sing-song session prompted by the spirited stuff. Louis sang beautiful oldies with his golden Elvis-like voice.
But soon the sky came crashing down on Louis. It was 1988. At 40, he felt there was no life left for him to begin. He faced a multitude of personal and emotional crises, one on top of another. He lost his eyesight, his job, his abode, all his money and the hope to live. In his own words, he was going through raging waters and blazing fires, shattered and battered.
It was around this time that I left the Sun and joined the Sunday Times. However, wherever he was, I regularly visited him. He was leading a miserable life. The man who drank quality liquor and smoked high-end cigarettes was drinking illicit liquor and smoking beedis. I tried as much as I could to get him a job at the Sunday Times.
As the saying goes, even the longest night gives way to dawn: The crises Louis went through brought about a transformation in his life. A man of strong faith and staunch Catholic, he believed that his God would not abandon him. When he had no money, no home, and no physical vision, he found an angel: his wife-to-be, Marie. She convinced him to join the Catholic Charismatic Renewal Movement, where Louis experienced a deep and personal relationship with the Risen Lord. Writing in his testimony titled “I was blind, but now I see”, Louis describes the meeting with Marie and the involvement in the Charismatic Renewal Movement as the turning point. “Gradually the Lord who lives within me began to change my mind and thoughts, attitudes and perceptions, my heart and nature. I was filled with the positive energy of the Holy Spirit, bringing positive thoughts, words and actions with the rejection of negative thoughts or feelings such as anger and bitterness, grudges and unforgiveness.”
Soon Marie and Louis entered marital bliss. Their wedding was modest and a remarkable example for others. Months after their wedding, I gave him the good news: The Sunday Times was willing to offer him a job as a subeditor. I was then staying in Kirullapone and Louis at the De Soysa flats in Ratmalana. He had no transport to come to office. I picked him up from his residence. He was the pillion rider on my motorbike. But he said since it was out of my way, he would wait for me near Savoy theatre at Wellawatte. His brother-in-law, Malcolm, would drop him there. One morning, he was waiting outside the Savoy theatre under a provocative billboard advertising a Sylvia Kristel starring ‘adults only’ movie. To cheer him up, I told him that passersby would think he had come early to watch the movie.
The bike rides continued until Louis got a promotion as a deputy editor with office transport up and down. In 1996, when the Sunday Times’ publishers, the Wijeya Newspapers Limited, launched the Mid-Week Mirror, the precursor to the Daily Mirror, Louis was there to offer advice and edit copies. Often one of us would read out the copy to him, and he would suggest changes. It was a wonderful learning process for us. Under the penname Kottamalli, he wrote a regular column for the Mid-week Mirror and later Daily Mirror.
Journalism is not a profession; it is a vocation, Louis, a recipient of the Sri Lanka Press Institute’s Lifetime Achievment award, often insisted, emphasising the importance of activism in journalism. And he did exactly that. He carried out a campaign for patients’ rights and highlighted the medical mafia’s rackets. In his writings, he called for a National Medicinal Drug Policy based on the revered Professor Senaka Bibile’s essential medicines concept whereby quality drugs could be made available to all people at affordable prices. The National Medicinal Drug Authority was the fruit of his relentless campaign. Until his death, he remained the president of the People’s Movement for Patients’ Rights.
I saw Christ in him. He was the Good Samaritan. He would give his coat also when someone asked for his shirt. Unknown to others, he often helped those in need. He advocated the liberation theology—God-centred socialism.
Social justice was the theme of editorials he wrote for the Daily Mirror and later the Catholic Messenger. A lay preacher well versed in the Bible, he would often take up the cross to highlight the injustice inflicted on the poor and marginalised. A staunch supporter of the Palestinian cause, he would write that if Christ were to come today, on whose side he would be. Will he be with the oppressed Palestinians or the oppressor, Israel? A man of peace, he courageously opposed war. Idealistically motivated, Louis, like Diogenes who with a lamp in his hand searched for an honest man in broad daylight, looked for a politician committed to servant leadership.
Feeling the void his death has created within me, I find solace in saying, “Here’s a man who overcame disability and found light in his blindness; here’s a man whose humility lifted him to greater spiritual heights.”
Dear Louis, goodbye until we meet in the Kingdom of God!
Ameen Izzadeen