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| Richard Beeston, correspondent in Cold War hot spots, dies at 88 | |
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| As a foreign correspondent, Richard Beeston bore witness to bloody conflicts in Africa and the Middle East. During the 1960s civil war in Yemen, he brought back powerful evidence of poison gas attacks by the Egyptian military. He briefly covered the Vietnam War and chronicled political tensions from Moscow and Washington. | As a foreign correspondent, Richard Beeston bore witness to bloody conflicts in Africa and the Middle East. During the 1960s civil war in Yemen, he brought back powerful evidence of poison gas attacks by the Egyptian military. He briefly covered the Vietnam War and chronicled political tensions from Moscow and Washington. |
| Mr. Beeston, who died Feb. 19 at 88, was one of the more intrepid figures of Cold War journalism. He spent the preponderance of his career at the London Daily Telegraph, seldom at the home office. He once described the appeal of foreign correspondence as “a pleasant way of life thousands of miles away from your editor, being paid to rove around the world at someone else’s expense.” | Mr. Beeston, who died Feb. 19 at 88, was one of the more intrepid figures of Cold War journalism. He spent the preponderance of his career at the London Daily Telegraph, seldom at the home office. He once described the appeal of foreign correspondence as “a pleasant way of life thousands of miles away from your editor, being paid to rove around the world at someone else’s expense.” |
| From his residence in Georgetown, his home for most of the 1970s and ’80s, he hosted soirees attended by a cross-section of embassy and espionage types, as well as journalists and authors including the late Christopher Hitchens. One neighbor, onetime CIA chief of counterintelligence, James Jesus Angleton, tended bar. Mr. Beeston remembered him as a “night owl” who liked to pop over for chats “until he could be persuaded to leave” at daybreak. | From his residence in Georgetown, his home for most of the 1970s and ’80s, he hosted soirees attended by a cross-section of embassy and espionage types, as well as journalists and authors including the late Christopher Hitchens. One neighbor, onetime CIA chief of counterintelligence, James Jesus Angleton, tended bar. Mr. Beeston remembered him as a “night owl” who liked to pop over for chats “until he could be persuaded to leave” at daybreak. |
| Perhaps the most-cited encounter of Mr. Beeston’s career happened on a wintry Moscow night in 1978 while he and his wife, Moyra, were attending the Bolshoi ballet. During intermission, he spotted an erstwhile colleague from his Beirut days in the late 1950s, H.A.R. “Kim” Philby, one of the most destructive double agents in British intelligence. | Perhaps the most-cited encounter of Mr. Beeston’s career happened on a wintry Moscow night in 1978 while he and his wife, Moyra, were attending the Bolshoi ballet. During intermission, he spotted an erstwhile colleague from his Beirut days in the late 1950s, H.A.R. “Kim” Philby, one of the most destructive double agents in British intelligence. |
| Philby had been posted to the Middle East undercover as a journalist and, in 1963, defected to the Soviet Union after leaving an incalculable trail of deceit and betrayal. Unlike other high-profile British defectors, Philby was shrouded from visiting Western reporters but was delighted by the chance meeting with an old friend, declaring, “As I live and breathe, Dick Beeston!” | Philby had been posted to the Middle East undercover as a journalist and, in 1963, defected to the Soviet Union after leaving an incalculable trail of deceit and betrayal. Unlike other high-profile British defectors, Philby was shrouded from visiting Western reporters but was delighted by the chance meeting with an old friend, declaring, “As I live and breathe, Dick Beeston!” |
| Asking about their three children, Philby was told that Mr. Beeston’s son was now at Philby’s alma mater, Westminster. “Ah, Westminster. You should be careful. Sometimes they produce some, some. . . .” | Asking about their three children, Philby was told that Mr. Beeston’s son was now at Philby’s alma mater, Westminster. “Ah, Westminster. You should be careful. Sometimes they produce some, some. . . .” |
| Philby trailed off and started to stammer. | Philby trailed off and started to stammer. |
| “Bad hats?” Mr. Beeston offered. | “Bad hats?” Mr. Beeston offered. |
| The spy grinned, and the journalist asked a favor. | The spy grinned, and the journalist asked a favor. |
| In the six weeks following their arrival in Moscow, the Beestons were essentially homeless, consigned to a grim hotel because the authorities were making accommodations difficult to come by. Philby said he would see what he could do. | In the six weeks following their arrival in Moscow, the Beestons were essentially homeless, consigned to a grim hotel because the authorities were making accommodations difficult to come by. Philby said he would see what he could do. |
| In the end, Philby got Mr. Beeston a front-page exclusive in London and an apartment in Moscow. | In the end, Philby got Mr. Beeston a front-page exclusive in London and an apartment in Moscow. |
| William Richard Charles Beeston, the son of an architect, was born in Boscombe, England, on Aug. 8, 1926. After service in the Royal Air Force, he worked for a public relations company in London, then joined an Arabic broadcasting service on the Mediterranean island of Cyprus that beamed propaganda into the Middle East and was funded by the British espionage agency MI6. | William Richard Charles Beeston, the son of an architect, was born in Boscombe, England, on Aug. 8, 1926. After service in the Royal Air Force, he worked for a public relations company in London, then joined an Arabic broadcasting service on the Mediterranean island of Cyprus that beamed propaganda into the Middle East and was funded by the British espionage agency MI6. |
| He had negligible journalism experience — at 15, he wrote for a penny a line on a provincial paper — and could not speak Arabic. But the man doing the hiring, he later wrote in a memoir, “appeared far more interested . . . in whether [Mr. Beeston and his wife] used the right knives and forks and how much drink we could take without falling into the pudding.” | He had negligible journalism experience — at 15, he wrote for a penny a line on a provincial paper — and could not speak Arabic. But the man doing the hiring, he later wrote in a memoir, “appeared far more interested . . . in whether [Mr. Beeston and his wife] used the right knives and forks and how much drink we could take without falling into the pudding.” |
| The station folded amid the international Suez Crisis of 1956, which resulted in the loss to the Egyptians of a vital trade route. Mr. Beeston found work as a Middle East correspondent for a liberal British daily, the News Chronicle. He covered the U.S. Marine Corps’ amphibious landing on the beaches of Lebanon in 1958 to support the country’s Western-backed leader amid a threatened coup. | The station folded amid the international Suez Crisis of 1956, which resulted in the loss to the Egyptians of a vital trade route. Mr. Beeston found work as a Middle East correspondent for a liberal British daily, the News Chronicle. He covered the U.S. Marine Corps’ amphibious landing on the beaches of Lebanon in 1958 to support the country’s Western-backed leader amid a threatened coup. |
| Mr. Beeston reported on the bloody dissolution of Belgian control over the Congo in 1960 when his paper ceased publication. He soon joined the Telegraph, continuing his wide-ranging career for another quarter century. | Mr. Beeston reported on the bloody dissolution of Belgian control over the Congo in 1960 when his paper ceased publication. He soon joined the Telegraph, continuing his wide-ranging career for another quarter century. |
| He was expelled at least twice from newly independent African countries — from Ghana in 1962 for coverage that displeased president Kwame Nkrumah (who soon decreed new censorship laws) and later from Kenya for his dispatches about arms smuggling. | He was expelled at least twice from newly independent African countries — from Ghana in 1962 for coverage that displeased president Kwame Nkrumah (who soon decreed new censorship laws) and later from Kenya for his dispatches about arms smuggling. |
| While on assignment in 1963 to cover Yemen’s civil war, Mr. Beeston made a three-day trek by donkey to the mountain village of Kawma, a royalist enclave where he saw proof of Egyptian aerial bombing that included poison gas attacks. There were seven dead and many grievously wounded, including a woman blinded, another whose face had turned a yellowish tint and a boy of roughly 12 who could not stop coughing and who had sustained deep blister wounds. | While on assignment in 1963 to cover Yemen’s civil war, Mr. Beeston made a three-day trek by donkey to the mountain village of Kawma, a royalist enclave where he saw proof of Egyptian aerial bombing that included poison gas attacks. There were seven dead and many grievously wounded, including a woman blinded, another whose face had turned a yellowish tint and a boy of roughly 12 who could not stop coughing and who had sustained deep blister wounds. |
| “President Nasser can now claim the distinction of being the first person to employ chemical warfare since Mussolini used mustard gas on Ethiopian tribesmen during the thirties,” Mr. Beeston wrote in his much-cited dispatch, referring to Gamal Abdel Nasser, the pan-Arab nationalist leader of Egypt. Cairo denied the story, even though Mr. Beeston had carried back the wheel-shaped bomb and gas canisters. | “President Nasser can now claim the distinction of being the first person to employ chemical warfare since Mussolini used mustard gas on Ethiopian tribesmen during the thirties,” Mr. Beeston wrote in his much-cited dispatch, referring to Gamal Abdel Nasser, the pan-Arab nationalist leader of Egypt. Cairo denied the story, even though Mr. Beeston had carried back the wheel-shaped bomb and gas canisters. |
| Continued gas attacks by the Egyptians resulted in a scathing report by the International Committee of the Red Cross in 1967, followed by a United Nations resolution condemning the use of poison gas. | Continued gas attacks by the Egyptians resulted in a scathing report by the International Committee of the Red Cross in 1967, followed by a United Nations resolution condemning the use of poison gas. |
| Mr. Beeston was sacked by the Telegraph soon after the paper came under the control of mogul Conrad Black in 1985. He spent several more years in Washington for the London Daily Mail, among other papers, before returning to Britain. | Mr. Beeston was sacked by the Telegraph soon after the paper came under the control of mogul Conrad Black in 1985. He spent several more years in Washington for the London Daily Mail, among other papers, before returning to Britain. |
| He wrote an understated but vividly detailed memoir, “Looking for Trouble” (1997), which drew acclaim from British journalist and political commentator Anthony Howard as “the best journalistic autobiography since James Cameron’s ‘Point of Departure’ 30 years ago.” In 2006, Mr. Beeston received the Order of the British Empire for his services to journalism. | He wrote an understated but vividly detailed memoir, “Looking for Trouble” (1997), which drew acclaim from British journalist and political commentator Anthony Howard as “the best journalistic autobiography since James Cameron’s ‘Point of Departure’ 30 years ago.” In 2006, Mr. Beeston received the Order of the British Empire for his services to journalism. |
| His first wife, Moyra Salmon, died in 2002. Their son, also named Richard and who became foreign editor of the Times of London, died of cancer in 2013. | His first wife, Moyra Salmon, died in 2002. Their son, also named Richard and who became foreign editor of the Times of London, died of cancer in 2013. |
| Survivors include his wife of nine years, Hazel Hollander of London; two daughters from his first marriage, Jennifer Browne, a photographer in London, and Fiona Beeston, a wine journalist and author in Paris; six grandchildren; and a great-grandson. | Survivors include his wife of nine years, Hazel Hollander of London; two daughters from his first marriage, Jennifer Browne, a photographer in London, and Fiona Beeston, a wine journalist and author in Paris; six grandchildren; and a great-grandson. |
| Mr. Beeston’s family said he died at his home in London. He had a heart attack after drinking a dry martini. | Mr. Beeston’s family said he died at his home in London. He had a heart attack after drinking a dry martini. |
| Stephanie Mansfield contributed to this report. | Stephanie Mansfield contributed to this report. |