By Chris Schuler
We were saddened to learn of the death in July of the distinguished broadcaster and foreign correspondent Edward Stourton. Just three months earlier, he had joined us for our April lunch to talk about his latest – and sadly his last – book Made in America: The Dark History that Led to Donald Trump, a brilliant exploration of how Trump’s seemingly maverick style of leadership is actually deeply rooted in American history. He was a lively, erudite, engaged and amiable speaker, and his ill-health was in no way apparent, making his recent death all the more shocking.
A lifelong Catholic, Edward Stourton consistently combined a clear-sighted analysis of world affairs and a feel for history with a searching insight into matters of faith. Over forty years in broadcasting, he was a regular presenter of BBC Radio Four series including The World at One, The World This Weekend and the religious affairs programme Sunday. One of the first British correspondents to reach New York after the 9/11 attacks, he was a founding member of Channel 4 News, Paris correspondent for the BBC, and for ten years one of the main presenters of the Today programme. His books include Absolute Truth: The Catholic Church Today (1998), a biography of Pope John Paul II (2006), and a memoir, Confessions: Life Re-examined (2023).
Radio 4’s The World at One recently spent a week celebrating their colleague’s contributions to the programme, starting on August 17 (at 39:50 into the show) with his retracing of the Second World War escapees’ route across the Pyrenees, and summaries of his Diary from Afghanistan can be found here. A great journalist, a courageous foreign correspondent and a wise, knowledgeable and humane man, he will be sorely missed.