| | | Went to Haileybury College with Richard Drake. Hated it more than I did. Left early. Became a journalist and was captured by Islamic militants in Beirut. Held for a number of years as a hostage in the 1980s, along with Terry Waite, Brian Keenan and others. The Friends Of John McCarthy became nationally famous in the UK in seeking to keep his name in the forefront of peoples' minds at that time. On release became a client and then on the council of reference of the Medical Foundation. Now a TV and radio star in the UK and a more contemplative fellow.
Pair survival
John's fiery relationship in captivity with the Northern Irish bruiser (and journalist) Keenan is one that my brother and fellow Haileyburian Hugh thinks is of the greatest significance as well as great amusement. Even though I haven't read the books (An Evil Cradling by Keenan is much the better of the two, I am told) I have a strong sense that Hugh is right on this. English public school toff meets hairy Irish radical and starts swearing at him and being abused back within the first three seconds of being able to see him. It rings bells, it rings bells. And in this case it pretty much saved the two men's life, they would both say. Not many of us will have the privilege of experiencing such deep and lasting friendship. Why, I wonder, is that?
Pair surveying
Hi, I'm new to this part of the website, but I was just wondering what this page is about. Are you trying to create a reference guide to historical and current affairs (like a political version of the BBC's H2G2), or do you have a special interest in John McCarthy? -- Sarah McIntyre
It's a mixture. Best explained, if a little negatively, in Why Is Not An Encyclopedia and Bio Pages and then more positively in Pluralism Workshop and Connection-Centric View. I didn't even know the Beeb had taken H2G2, which deserves putting back together in splits, so let me do that. -- rd
Worth adding I think that we do have a central interest, not in John per se, but in the Medical Foundation. Worth looking at Reducing Torture and the Why Mission Statement. The "Pair survival" is an allusion to Pair Programming, one of the most important and original practices associated with XP. -- Richard
Latest
According to Radio 4's Start the Week this morning, hosted by Andrew Marr, John has just come back from Lebanon, the first time he's been there since escaping captivity from Hezbollah Shiite extremists. Well, extremists as we would have called them then, with the best will in the world. I hear they are less so now. But John wanted to go back, not only to earn his shilling for the BBC, but to learn about the gentler side to Shia Islam. And is that the right Clublet Name anyone? That's how ignorant I am.
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