Renowned and beloved Trinidadian writer and cultural commentator BC Pires has died. The columnist passed away on Saturday, at the age of 65. Pires, whose career in journalism began in the early 1980s, was a prolific writer with a unique style and has contributed to numerous publications, including the Express newspaper and other local publications, as well as the London Sunday Observer and the London & Manchester Guardian. He also had a stint as a morning show host on Power 102 FM.
His flagship column, ‘Thank God It’s Friday’, continued online via his website, where he wrote of his travails and challenges with oesophageal cancer. In a post dated October 13, Pires wrote, “Just coughing is by itself tiring. Remember how breathless you were at the end of your own last coughing fit? There is nothing that puts the flourish on exhaustion like sitting on the bathroom floor, hugging the toilet for support, and gasping for air. It may be accurate to say I spend most of my time nowadays just catching myself.”
Several in the political, media, and cultural landscape have been posting tributes to the late writer since learning of his passing.