Brian Barron died today in St Ives

More sad news .... Brian Barron the  former BBC foreign correspondent died today at his home in St Ives, Cornwall.
Colin and I had the privilege of knowing him as we often chatted to him as he walked around the town.
He was a very modest man, always willing to stop for a chat and we never felt his smile was only "from the teeth out", as is the case with so many people.

A few years ago, he gave a talk for the St Ives September Festival on his work as a war reporter. It was a packed house and he had everyone in the palm of his hand; a captivating speaker with a wealth of knowledge and experience that he carried lightly with no pomposity. 

We asked him once why he had chosen to settle in St Ives when he had seen so much of the world and he said that for him St Ives Bay was probably the most beautiful he had seen in all his travels.
He also had a home in Rome but for him St Ives was the place he chose as his final home. Sincere condolences to his wife Angela and his daughter Fleur.


Report below is taken from the Guardian newspaper


Tributes have been paid today to the former BBC foreign correspondent Brian Barron, who has died aged 69.

Barron became a familiar face to millions of viewers when he reported from the front line of conflicts across five decades, from Aden in 1967 to the war in Iraq in 2003.

Jon Williams, the BBC's world news editor, said Barron was "among the greatest of that great generation". Barron, who had cancer, died at his home today in Cornwall surrounded by his family.

Jon Snow, the Channel 4 News presenter, said Barron was "the most tenacious, even ruthless, correspondent I have ever worked against" and the "ultimate, objective professional".

"In the 1970s Brian Barron and I chased down the grim regime of Uganda's President Idi Amin. We also reported on Kenyatta's funeral in Kenya, and much else beyond," wrote Snow on his blog.

"In learning of his death today from cancer, I feel one of my co-ordinates has gone. Barron's excellent reporting was a yardstick to which one aspired. "I well remember, in one of our contests to track down some miscreant in northern Kenya, hiding under a remote cafe table in a grass-roofed shack.
We thought we had a tip as to where our prey could be found.

"With some glee we saw Barron's Land Cruiser steaming past the open door in the wrong direction, only to emerge to find that he was right and we were wrong. He got the interview and we didn't. 

Barron joined the BBC in 1965 and covered conflicts including the Vietnam war, the Falklands war and the invasions of Iraq and was the corporation's Africa correspondent between 1977 and 1981. He won a number of awards, including the Royal Television Society's reporter of the year prize in 1980.

The BBC News director, Helen Boaden, said Barron was "one of the most distinguished BBC correspondents of our age".

She added: "He was an inspiration to many generations of journalists for his professionalism, extraordinary experience and ligShe added: "He was an inspiration to many generations of journalists for his professionalism, extraordinary experience and lightness of touch. We shall miss him very much."

Williams added: "Brian Barron was the quintessential foreign correspondent - suave, impossibly handsome and brave.

"Long before satellite technology made it routine, he took BBC audiences to faraway places, and explained the biggest stories of our times - first on radio, then television.

"He was comfortable and composed in the most dangerous places - covering wars across five decades, from Aden in 1967 to Iraq in 2003.

"Brian was part of the greatest generation of BBC reporters and cameramen - a brave bunch who roamed the world and covered the most important stories of the time.

"Not for them the ease of satellite or digital technology - instead, they'd wait hours, sometimes days, to even place a phone call. But the story still got through. Brian Barron was among the greatest of that great generation."