John Simpson
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| John Simpson | ||
|---|---|---|
 Simpson at a book signing in 2006 |
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| Birth name | John Cody Fidler-Simpson | |
| Born | 9 August 1944 | |
| Birth place | Cleveleys, Lancashire, England | |
| Circumstances | ||
| Occupation | Journalist | |
| Spouse | Diane Jean Petteys (1965-1995) Adele Kruger (1996-present) |
|
| Ethnicity | English | |
| Notable credit(s) | BBC News | |
John Cody Fidler-Simpson CBE (born 9 August 1944) is an English journalist and correspondent.
He currently holds the most senior role of World Affairs Editor for BBC News. He also presents the current affairs programme Simpson's World.
Contents |
[edit] Biography
Born in Cleveleys, Lancashire, Simpson went to Dulwich College Preparatory School and then St Paul's School, a famous British independent school. Although born in Lancashire he moved with his family to Dunwich in Suffolk. He read English at Magdalene College, Cambridge, where he edited the magazine Granta. As a student he competed on the television programme University Challenge in 1965. His first job with the BBC was as a trainee sub-editor in Radio News in 1966.
He was promoted to the role of reporter in 1970. His autobiography recalls an occasion on his first day on the news team when he attempted to record a quote from Prime Minister Harold Wilson, who punched Simpson in the stomach for his impudence. He was the BBC's Political Editor from 1980 - 1981, presented the BBC Nine O'Clock News from 1981 - 1982, became the BBC's Diplomatic Editor in 1982, and was appointed World Affairs Editor in 1988. He has also worked as a correspondent in South Africa, Brussels and Dublin.
In a BBC career spanning more than 40 years, Simpson has earned a reputation as one of the world's most experienced and authoritative journalists. He has reported from more than 100 countries across the globe, from 30 war zones, and has interviewed numerous world leaders.
Simpson has received numerous awards including a CBE in the Gulf War Honours in 1991, three Baftas and an International Emmy award for News Coverage for his report on the fall of Kabul for the BBC Ten O'Clock News. He became the first BBC journalist in a war zone to answer questions from internet users via BBC News Online.
He has faced many dangerous situations including being shelled in Afghanistan, attacked with poisonous gas in the Gulf and dodging the bullets in Tiananmen Square.
He travelled with the Ayatollah Khomeini from Paris to Iran on 1 February, 1979, a return that launched the Islamic Revolution as millions lined the streets of Tehran for the event. He interviewed the King of Buganda Mutesa II a few hours before his death on November 21, 1969; he was present at the Tiananmen Square massacre in Beijing in 1989 and the fall of Nicolae Ceauşescu in Bucharest later that year. He spent the early part of the 1991 Gulf War in Baghdad, before being expelled by the authorities.
He also reported from Belgrade during the Kosovo War of 1999, where he was one of only a handful of journalists to remain in the Serbian capital after the authorities expelled those from NATO countries at the start of the conflict. Two years later, he was one of the first journalists to enter Kabul after the 2001 US-led invasion of Afghanistan.
While working as a non-embedded journalist in Northern Iraq in the 2003 Iraq war, he was injured in a friendly fire incident when an American aircraft bombed the convoy of US and Kurdish forces he was with. The incident was captured on film and has been broadcast. A member of his crew was killed during the incident, whilst Simpson was left deaf in one ear.[1]
Simpson has freely admitted to experimenting with hallucinogenic drugs offered to him by natives and locals while working in various jungles of the world. This has prompted numerous light-hearted jibes from other panellists whenever Simpson has appeared on the topical quiz show Have I Got News For You. On his first appearance, Simpson revealed, in all seriousness, that one hallucination involved a six-foot goldfish putting his flipper round his shoulders while wearing dark glasses and a straw hat.
[edit] Books
Simpson has written several books, including the autobiographical books:
- A Mad World, My Masters (2000)
- News From No Man's Land (2002).
- The Wars Against Saddam: Taking the Hard Road to Baghdad (2004)
- Days from a Different World: A Memoir of Childhood (2005)
- Not Quite World's End: A Traveller's Tales (2007)
- Twenty Tales From The War Zone (2007)
[edit] Awards and personal life
John Simpson was awarded the CBE in 1991. He became the first Chancellor of Roehampton University in 2005.
Simpson has two adult daughters, Julia and Eleanor, from his first marriage to Diane Petteys of El Cajon, California. He married his second wife Dee (Adele) Kruger, a television producer from South Africa 19 years his junior, in 1996. A son, Rafe, was born to the couple in January 2006.[2] After living in Ireland for several years, he moved back to London in 2005.[3]
[edit] See also
| Media offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by ??? |
Political editor of the BBC 1980 - 1981 |
Succeeded by John Cole |
[edit] External links
- BBC article re. "Friendly Fire" incident in which Simpson was wounded and others killed
- BBC Newswatch profile
- John Simpson engagements
- When suffering gets personal
[edit] References
- ^ 'This is just a scene from hell'. BBC (2003). Retrieved on 6 April, 2003.
- ^ Simpson becomes a father aged 61. BBC (2006). Retrieved on 16 January, 2006.
- ^ Travels with Auntie. The Observer (2002). Retrieved on 24 February, 2002.
