Roy Boyke dies after long battle with cancer

Roy Boyke (Express Photo)

Roy Boyke died Monday after a battle with cancer.

Boyke was a former communications and media adviser to Basdeo Panday during Panday's term as Prime Minister of Trinidad & Tobago.

Boyke's career in the media began decades ago. He was trained in the United Kingdom as a photographer and served as chief photographer at the Daily Mirror in Port of Spain until it closed in 1966.

He and a team of other professionals started the Express newspaper one year later. He worked as the paper's advertising manager before moving on to develop his private career in advertising, publishing and communications.

He also worked for the Kirpalani group of companies.

Boyke shot to fame as a political communications specialist when he helped develop a successful election campaign for the National Alliance for Reconstruction in 1986.

He later became Panday's communications adviser, when Panday moved to Whitehall. Boyke also worked on successful election campaigns in several Caribbean countries.