Bel Mooney

Bel Mooney (born December 17, 1946) is an English journalist and broadcaster born in Liverpool.

Mooney lived and attended school in Trowbridge, Wiltshire, then obtained a first class degree in English Language and Literature from University College London. She met her husband, Jonathan Dimbleby there and they married in 1968. [cite book | title = Trowbridge : County Town Official Guide | publisher = Local Authority Publishing Ltd | author = Trowbridge Town Council | year = 2008 ]

In the early seventies, Mooney wrote for the "New Statesman" and was for many years she was a regular columnist for "The Times", "The Sunday Times" and "The Listener". (Her reference to Margaret Thatcher in a 1973 magazine article as a 'possible future Prime Minister' is believed to have been the first suggestion of its kind in the media.)

Having made her name as a journalist, columnist, and broadcaster, she turned her hand to writing fiction for adults and children. She is the author of the best-selling 'Kitty and friends' series of stories for young girls, including "I Don’t Want To!" and "So What", which were inspired by her own daughter, Katherine, or Kitty as she is known.

She presented "Devout Sceptics", a BBC Radio 4 programme devoted to public figures' private beliefs, not necessarily agnostic or atheistic, as the name might suggest. Mooney has been active in ecological campaigning. In particular she was involved in the campaign against the Newbury bypass in the mid 1990s.

Mooney was married to the television journalist Jonathan Dimbleby for thirty-five years, until the couple separated in 2004 after his affair with opera singer Susan Chilcott; they are now divorced. They have two adult children, Kitty and Daniel, a producer on Jamie Oliver's television show. On September 8, 2007, Mooney married Robin Allison-Smith, a freelance photographer, with whom she lives on the outskirts of Bath. [Borland, Sophie. [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/09/05/nmooney105.xml " Bel Mooney to wed man 16 years her junior"] "Daily Telegraph", 5 September 2007. Retrieved 31 March 2008.]

In June 2007 she began writing a weekly column for the Saturday edition of the "Daily Mail", advising readers on emotional and relationship issues, and she contributes other comment articles to the paper.

Notes

External links

* [http://www.belmooney.co.uk/ Bel Mooney Homepage]
* [http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/femail/article.html?in_article_id=460908&in_page_id=1879 Frances Hardy.] "The anguish, heartache and courage of Bel Mooney" "Daily Mail" 10 June 2007: Interview with Bel Mooney. Retrieved 11 June 2007.