When the history of Jamaica is written, journalism must be featured for its role in protecting the nation's democracy, and when the spotlight is thrown upon this sector, Hector Joseph Lodge will inevitably have a long and sterling chapter for himself.

There are many noble Jamaicans whose contribution to the nation is so fundamental that perhaps without it, Jamaica would long have disintegrated into chaos and tyranny.

They are the honest policeman, the compassionate nurse, the just judge, the ethical employer and in the case of Hector Lodge, the master printer.

Never worked anywhere else

Lodge came to The Gleaner on the March 21, 1941, as an apprentice from Kingston Technical High School, and he worked here for over 50 years. He never worked anywhere else.

So why must he be remembered, you ask? What great contribution did he make?

Lodge was responsible in large part for the modernisation of printing in Jamaica. He oversaw the implementation of the Gleaner Company's transition from 'hot metal' to 'cold type' printing, that is, from a heavily manual to a very modern, electronic and computerised way of printing on the very cutting edge of global technology.

Readers may know the names of reporters that write the daily news and photographers that capture events in living colour, but probably greater than the man who writes, is the man who runs the press.

Men were writing great things for centuries before Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing press in 1439.

It was only after that event though, that information on every subject became widely accessible to every man, changing the world forever.

The case is true for Lodge as well. It was his input that kept The Gleaner on the cutting edge of technology, so that the paper could be printed in a hurricane, after an earthquake, in the face of political intimidation and so forth.

100th anniversary

At the time of his retirement, Lodge was the manager of the preparation and processing department.

According to Ian Roxburgh, plant manager at The Gleaner, one of the highlights of Lodge's career came when the company celebrated its 100th anniversary and instituted their schoolbook project. Lodge was the man responsible for laying out, printing and distributing to primary schools across Jamaica, some 2.7 million books.

Lodge's funeral service will be held today at the St Boniface Church, Harbour View at 3:30 p.m.

The Gleaner salutes Hector Joseph Lodge and conveys its deepest condolences to his dear family.

andrew.wildes@gleanerjm.com