Ludovic Kennedy, distinguished British scholar, dies at 89
Sir Ludovic Kennedy, the journalist, broadcaster, author, and politician, died yesterday at a nursing home in Salisbury, England. He was 89.
Kennedy was born in Edinburgh in 1919 to naval officer Edward Kennedy and his wife, Rosalind. During the second World War, Kennedy followed his father into the navy, who would later die in battle. Following the war, Kennedy attended Eton College, after which he became a journalist with Newsweek.
Kennedy spent nearly three decades on television. First, he was a newsreader on Independent Television News, then a presenter on the current affairs program Panorama, and finally spent seven years on Did You See…?, a television review program.
Kennedy wrote more than a dozen books, his most popular ones including Pursuit: The Chase and Sinking of the “Bismarck”, Ten Rillington Place, and The Airman and The Carpenter (1985). His last book, All in the Mind: A Farewell to God, he wrote in 1999. Consequently, Kennedy was an atheist and a prominent supporter of the British Humanist Association.
In 1958, Kennedy was the Liberal candidate for election to Parliament, but, in the end, lost to Labour candidate Jack McCann.
In 1985, he received an honorary doctorate from the University of Strathclyde. Additionally, Kennedy was knighted in 1994 for his services to journalism.
Kennedy’s wife, dancer and actress Moira Shearer, died in January 2006 at the age of 80. The couple is survived by one son and three daughters.
[photo: Wikipedia]
Tags: author death, broadcaster, England, journalist, politician, Sir Ludovic Kennedy
