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 Friday听听听16:00-16:30
Sunday听20:30-21:00听(rpt)
Radio 4's weekly obituaries programme |
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This week |
Friday听9th听November 2007
(Rpt) Sunday听11th November听 |
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Reverend Chad Varah
Founder of Samaritans, who has died aged 95.
The Reverend Dr Chad Varah helped save the lives of countless desperate people. Dr Varah was the founder of Samaritans, the charity whose voluntary team of counsellors offer round the clock emotional support to those in need. An unconventional clergyman who talked of having been 鈥減ress ganged鈥 into his vocation as a young man, he pioneered sexual education for young people at a time when the subject was taboo.
He launched the Samaritans in 1953 after becoming the rector of a church in the City of London. At the time three suicides a day were being reported in the capital. After assembling his first group of volunteers and launching the Samaritans鈥 telephone help-line, the number of suicides fell dramatically.
Chad Varah was a busy man 鈥 a clergyman, charity leader, a father of five children and, maybe most surprisingly, a comic-book creator. In the 1950s he worked on Eagle magazine as a scriptwriter and became scientific consultant to the comic鈥檚 Dan Dare strip.
John Wilson talks to Dominic Rudd, the chief executive of Samaritans and to Heather Barker, a Samaritan who was trained by Dr Chad Varah himself in 1971.
The Reverend Edward Chad Varah was born November 12th 1911 and died November 8th 2007.
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Elizabeth Nel
Wartime secretary to Winston Churchill who has died aged 90.
At a banquet at the Yalta conference of 1945, as Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin met to forge new global alliances, two toasts were raised. The first was to the Big Three themselves. The second was proposed by Churchill to Elizabeth Nel 鈥 the only women present in the room.
As a secretary to Britain鈥檚 wartime leader, Elizabeth Nel was one of Churchill鈥檚 constant companions, ever ready with a notebook, a typewriter and a spare cigar. Her job demanded stamina, bravery and patience - regularly working into the early hours, travelling throughout the war-torn world and enduring tongue lashings from the leader. She maintained a fierce loyalty to Churchill throughout her life.
John Wilson talks to Sir Martin Gilbert, official Churchill biographer.
Elizabeth Nel was born on June 14th 1917 and died on October 30th 2007.
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SP Thamilselvan
Chief negotiator and international face of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam who has died aged 40.
To the Sri Lankan government, SP Tamilselven was a terrorist. To many Tamil people in the north of the island, he was a freedom fighter and hero. SP Tamilselven was the deputy leader of the Tamil Tiger secessionist militia, which is proscribed as an illegal organisation by 32 countries including Britain and the United Sates.
Tamilselven, who was killed this week along with five of his colleagues in a massive government air strike on a Tamil Tiger hideout, had become the public face of the organisation鈥檚 political wing in recent years.
John Wilson talks to 大象传媒鈥檚 Roland Buerk, reporter in Colombo.
S.P. Thamilselvan born in August 29th 1967 and died November 2nd 2007.
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John Woodruff
Olympic gold medallist at the Berlin Olympics who has died aged 92.
In 1936 Adolph Hitler planned to prove the superiority of the Aryan race at the Berlin Olympic Games. Although Jesse Owens is remembered as the man who enraged Hitler by becoming the fastest human being, he was one of five black American athletes who won gold medals in Berlin.
John Woodruff was the last surviving gold winner from the 1936 American team. He鈥檇 grown up in Pennsylvania where his height 鈥 he was six foot three 鈥 and his enormous stride saw him quickly established as a college sports champion. After returning victorious from Germany John Woodruff continued to race as an amateur athlete and won every race he entered.
John Wilson talks to Herb Douglas another Olympic medal winner, and a lifelong friend of John Woodruff.
John Youie Woodruff was born July 5th 1915 and died October 30th 2007.
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