Adrian Harris, 46, a radio broadcaster for radio stations in Belize City and Dangriga, died Monday morning around 5:00 at the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital.
The cause of his death has been reported to Amandala as complications arising from diabetes, which Harris had suffered from for some time.
Harris got his start at the former Broadcasting Corporation of Belize (BCB) in 1991, working as a radio announcer on their “Friends FM” station, before transitioning over to Rene Villanueva’s LOVE FM, where he worked as an announcer and technician for most of his career – which covers the life of the station itself, from 1993 to his passing, apart from short stints at the former FM 2000 and Power Mix FM in Dangriga.
KREM Radio’s E.J. Hill, who was Harris’ best friend and is a fellow diabetic, told Amandala Monday afternoon that Harris had helped him get started in Belizean radio; they had worked together at Power Mix.
Hill told us that Adrian was personable but reserved: “…what you heard on the radio, saw on the television, that was his business side…he was not full of himself, but he had a personal side and few were allowed to see that side of him. I was lucky to be one of those few.”
Another long-time friend and colleague, LOVE’s news director Ava Diaz-Sosa, told Amandala today that Adrian was best known for his professionalism and dedication to his work on and off the air.
“Adrian represented an era of broadcasters that emphasized preparation and research before going on the air with any broadcast; he was ‘old school’…whether as a disc jockey, working continuously on the air, he put a lot of thought into his music and his personality was jovial. For me, he was more than a colleague; we have been friends for over 20 years…” Sosa said.
Tributes to Harris poured in today on the LOVE FM Morning Show and the station’s boss, Rene Villanueva, issued a personal remembrance of Adrian on last night’s Belize Watch, according to Sosa.
Harris is the third Belizean media personality to die in an untimely manner in 2010, preceded by Channel 7’s Keith Swift in April and Mike Nicholson, formerly of the BCB and FM 2000, in August.
Harris is survived by family in Belize and the United States. He will be laid to rest following funeral services at the Wesley Methodist Church on Saturday, November 20, at 2:00 p.m.
Amandala extends condolences to his immediate family and to his extended family in the Belizean press corps.