After a long illness, Edmund (Syd) Burke died of cancer of the colon at the Charing Cross Hospital, Hammersmith on Friday 30 July. Syd was a popular broadcaster, media trainer, photojournalist and celebrity photographer.

The eldest of six children, he was a graduate of Cornwall College, the elite boy's school in Montego Bay, and when the family moved to Kingston, attended Excelsior High School, where he became Head Boy.

He worked as an engineer in Jamaica before coming to the UK in 1960 to study photography at North London Polytechnic. Syd became well-known in the UK as the host of Rice 'n' Peas, a popular magazine programme on the London Broadcasting Corporation(LBC) in the 1970s and 1980s.

After leaving LBC, he ran training programmes for young broadcasters all over the country. Syd was predeceased by his wife Veronica in 2002.

Syd Burke who presented Rice & Peas on LBC died on Saturday night at Charing X Hospital. He was ill for quite some time.

Syd is another one of our pioneers that pushed the boundaries to its limit, particularly in the media.

Like many of his generation, he disappeared off our radar screens only to emerge when he has passed on.

Let us not forget the many others that have passed and yet the increasing others who are still living in isolation.

Ansel Wong