- Nick Clarke
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Nick Clarke - Presenter of The World at One 1994-2006.
Nicholas Campbell Clarke (9 June 1948 – 23 November 2006), was an English radio and television presenter and journalist, primarily known for his work on BBC Radio 4.
Clarke was born in 1948 in Godalming, Surrey, and educated at Westbourne House School, West Sussex, Bradfield College, Berkshire and Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge.[1] Following his death, friends from university established the 'Nick Clarke Prize'.
Clarke began his career in newspapers on the Yorkshire Evening Post, before joining the BBC in 1973 as Northern Industrial Correspondent. He then joined The Money Programme and eventually joined Newsnight in 1984. His first major job in radio was on BBC Radio 4's The World This Weekend. He presented Radio 4's lunchtime news programme, The World at One, from 1994 until his death. During the 1991 Gulf War he was a volunteer presenter on the BBC Radio 4 News FM service[2]. He also presented the Round Britain Quiz, the debate series Straw Poll and Any Questions?
Clarke won the Broadcasting Press Guild broadcaster of the year award in 2001. He wrote a biography of the writer and journalist Alistair Cooke and a social history of Britain in the second half of the 20th century entitled The Shadow of a Nation: How Celebrity Destroyed Britain.
In December 2005, it was announced that Clarke was suffering from cancer [3] and subsequently had surgery which entailed the loss of his left leg [4]. During this time he documented his experiences with the disease for an audio diary that was broadcast on Radio 4 in June 2006.
Clarke returned to hosting The World at One programme in August 2006, but his last appearance was on 12 September. He died on 23 November 2006 [5].
In 2007, the BBC created the 'Nick Clarke Award' to celebrate and recognise the best broadcast interview of the year, which is awarded annually at the Cheltenham Literature Festival.[6]
In The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Nick presented a faux World at One for the Quandary Phase alongside Patrick Moore.
References
- ^ "Nick Clarke", The Times, 24 November 2006
- ^ Sound Matters - Five Live - the War of Broadcasting House - a morality story
- ^ BBC News - 8 December 2005, - Cancer diagnosis for BBC's Clarke
- ^ BBC News - June 23, 2006 - Losing a leg to cancer
- ^ The Guardian - Thursday November 23, 2006 - World at One's Nick Clarke dies
- ^ http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2008/09_september/26/clarke.shtml
External links
Categories:- 1948 births
- 2006 deaths
- Alumni of Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge
- BBC newsreaders and journalists
- British radio personalities
- British radio people
- Old Bradfieldians
- People from Godalming
- Cancer deaths in England
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