Scion of the Sun
Longest-held British hostage in Lebanon, held for more than five years.
via Wikipedia: John McCarthy (journalist) · see source
John Patrick McCarthy (born 27 November 1956) is a British journalist, writer and broadcaster, and one of the hostages in the Lebanon hostage crisis. McCarthy was the longest-held British hostage in Lebanon, having been imprisoned for more than five years. He was a journalist working for United Press International Television News at the time of his kidnap by Islamic Jihad terrorists in Lebanon. He had recently arrived in Beirut when on 17 April 1986, two days after USAF airstrikes on Libya, Worldwide Television News ordered him to leave. He was being escorted to the airport when a group of gunmen intercepted his car. He was held in captivity until release on 8 August 1991.
Lore & Background
McCarthy shared a cell with the Irish hostage Brian Keenan for several years. While a prisoner, he learned that his girlfriend, Jill Morrell, was actively campaigning for his release, launching a group called 'Friends of John McCarthy'. By the time of McCarthy's release, his mother Sheila had died of cancer in 1989, unaware of his fate. Following his release, he co-wrote, with Morrell, a memoir of his years in captivity, entitled Some Other Rainbow. Their relationship ended four years later, and he married Anna Ottewill, a photographer, on 16 April 1999. They have a daughter. In 1995 John McCarthy sailed around the coast of Britain with Sandi Toksvig, making a BBC documentary TV series, Island Race, and a book of the experience. McCarthy attended Hull University with her elder brother, Nick Toksvig. He co-presented the BBC Radio 4 programme Excess Baggage, also with Sandi Toksvig. On 29 March 2014, McCarthy hosted the ceremony for the 'I Do To Equal Marriage' event which celebrated the introduction of same-sex marriage in England and Wales. Toksvig renewed her vows to her civil partner at the event.
Reader's Guide
In 2006 McCarthy collaborated with the composer Adam Gorb and the librettist Ben Kaye to create Thoughts Scribbled on a Blank Wall, an exploration of the mental torture he underwent during his long incarceration. Commissioned by JAM (John Armitage Memorial), the work premiered in Fleet Street to critical acclaim in 2007 and was described by BBC Radio 3's Sean Rafferty as 'Powerful stuff. A protest Cantata, the first of a genre.' Thoughts Scribbled on a Blank Wall was scheduled for CD release in 2011. The Stiff Little Fingers song Beirut Moon was inspired by McCarthy's ordeal. It criticized the government for not acting to free him and was subsequently withdrawn from sale. A major Sky Arts series, Art of Faith, presented by McCarthy, was broadcast in 2008. The series, produced by Illuminations, was an exploration of the art and architecture of Islam, Christianity and Judaism. In 2009, production of a follow-up series of Art of Faith began, featuring Buddhism, Hinduism and religions of the Tao.
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