Former T&T Guardian photographer Lester Forde died last Friday at the Port-of-Spain General Hospital.
Forde, a father of three, of St James, died two days after he celebrated his 54th birthday.
He worked a number of years at the Trinidad Express and at T&T Guardian. He began his career in the media as a paste-up artist and moved to photography.
Forde’s common-law-wife for the past 16-years, Michelle Baptiste, said he was last freelancing at the TnT Mirror and the Bomb Newspaper.
Baptiste said Forde had a seizure at their home and had problems breathing.
“He had a seizure before he left to go the hospital. He came back to normal but he was fighting to breathe and I called the ambulance and they took him to the hospital,” she said.
He eventually died of a heart attack.
Forde’s father, Lennox a retired journalist, said he visited him last week Sunday before heading to Labour Day celebrations in Fyzabad.
“He told me the day after he was not well. We were close but he was not living by me. He was a good son to me and sought my interest and I have no complaints against him. He was attached to me,” he said.
Andre Alexander, a freelance photojournalist at Guardian Media, was one of Forde’s former colleagues for the past three decades.
“The proverb all work and no play that without time off from work a person becomes both bored and boring and that reminds me of Lester Forde. He knew or he had a formula for taking that time off from work to play. He knew what it was like to have fun on the job. He knew how to make people enjoy themselves on assignment. Very fun-loving and his presence could be felt while in the environment,” he said.
Maurice Brown, former Guardian Media chief photographer, worked with Forde for several years.
“Very friendly and close to me. Everyone says he was my son because I used to pick up for him.”
Other friends posted their condolences to social media.
