Edison Coleman
Encyclopedia
Denburg Edison Clifford Coleman (January 8, 1931 – February 6, 1994) was a radio pioneer, comedian and journalist. He worked primarily with Radio Belize
Radio Belize
The Broadcasting Corporation of Belize, otherwise known as Radio Belize, was a radio station in Belize that shut down in November 1998. Until the 1980s it was Belize's only radio station.- Beginnings :...

 and is recognized as having brought that station to a position of prominence in the small Central American nation.

Biography

Coleman was born in Benque Viejo del Carmen
Benque Viejo del Carmen
Benque Viejo del Carmen is a town in the Cayo District in the country of Belize.-History:The town was established in the 19th century, mostly by immigrants from Guatemala. During the first years of the 21st century, the town experienced a rapid boom in population...

 to descendants of Honduran immigrants from Isla Roatan. Having attended primary school in Benque Viejo and high school in Belize City
St. John's College, Belize
St. John's College has four divisions of outstanding reputation, and a number of acclaimed central academic centres and activities. Through its four divisions, SJC offers a wide variety of subjects covered in any secondary and two-year postsecondary curricula, delivering huge flexibility and choice...

, he became involved in the nationalist movement on the labour front, working with George Price
George Cadle Price
George Cadle Price PC was the first Prime Minister of Belize and is considered to have been one of the principal architects of the country's independence, and is today referred to by many as "the Father of the Nation"....

 and the General Workers' Union
General Workers' Union (Belize)
British Honduras Workers and Tradesmen's Union, the first central trade union organization in Belize. Founded in 1939 by Antonio Soberanis Gómez. Registered as a legal trade union in 1943. Shortly thereafter it changed its name to General Workers Union....

 in the 1950s. He had also gotten a parttime job with Radio Belize as a temporary announcer, at first working only in Spanish because the bosses thought he did not have the right accent for delivering an English-language newscast.
He received a certificate and a job as Labor Inspector but was fired a few months later after an altercation with a fellow employee. He fell back on his job at Radio Belize and within a decade had risen to become the voice of Belize, with a sometimes risque repartee of jokes and witticisms and a ready supply of listener approved music. About this time he married childhood sweetheart Carmen "Panchita" Aguallo; they had one son, current broadcaster with Positive Vibes FM
Positive Vibes FM
Positive Vibes FM is a private radio station in Belize and the radio arm of the Opposition People's United Party.- Conversion to Positive Vibes :...

 Gerard Coleman. He also had a step granddaughter, Susan Hernandez, whom he loved very much like his own blood granddaughter. He often let her speak over the radio and pick songs for the playlist. Coleman also frequently performed at the former Bliss Institute, now Center for the Performing Arts. He died in 1994, at Radio Belize's ebb in Belize City
Belize City
Belize City is the largest city in the Central American nation of Belize. Unofficial estimates place the population of Belize City at 70,000 or more. It is located at the mouth of the Belize River on the coast of the Caribbean. The city is the country's principal port and its financial and...

, Belize
Belize
Belize is a constitutional monarchy and the northernmost country in Central America. Belize has a diverse society, comprising many cultures and languages. Even though Kriol and Spanish are spoken among the population, Belize is the only country in Central America where English is the official...

, prior to the station's demise in 1998.

Radio style

Coleman was termed a perfectionist by some of his coworkers. But he always kept them- and listeners- on edge with his own brand of humor, much of it focused on unseen companion "Panchita", which many listeners thought represented his wife, though this was not the case. Among several bad habits was his lack of judgement with regard to time, some mornings barely making it to studios in downtown Belize City; and his rampant alcoholism, which only after several scares was repudiated in the late 1970s. Coleman succeeded because he represented the resiliency of Belizeans in the face of the many disasters affecting the nation as it struggled toward independence.

External links

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