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Nick Clarke, presenter of Radio 4's The World At One, has died, aged 58
Nick Clarke, presenter of 91Èȱ¬ Radio 4's The World At One, has died, aged 58.
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Mark Thompson, Director-General of the 91Èȱ¬, said:
"I am deeply saddened by this news. Nick was not only a terrific colleague, but also a great friend, whom I worked with over a number of years.
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"He was one of the 91Èȱ¬'s finest broadcasters and a brilliant political interviewer, who was also a great listener. Nick's interviewing style was penetrating but unfailingly courteous.
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"This is a very sad day for the 91Èȱ¬ and for Radio 4 listeners. All our thoughts are with Nick's family."
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Mark Damazer, Controller, Radio 4, also paid tribute: "Nick Clarke was a Radio 4 colossus. He embodied what Radio 4 stands for and his audience knew and appreciated it.
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"He was fearless, superbly informed, scrupulously impartial, and wonderfully charming.
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"Every weekday for 13 years on the World at One he probed and challenged his interviewees. Nick combined unremitting intellectual courage with unfailing courtesy. Always.
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"We have lost a supreme champion of Radio 4 - and the 91Èȱ¬. We owe him much."
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Colin Hancock, Editor of The World At One (WATO), said:
"Nick was the most brilliant interviewer I've ever known.
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"He had an instinct for exactly the right approach, every time: never hectoring or offending, always probing in precisely the right areas.
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"More than that, he absolutely believed that everything we did on The World At One mattered, inspiring all of us to think more rigorously and chase harder.
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"Our listeners rightly saw WATO as Nick's programme. They, his colleagues and public service broadcasting have suffered a great loss.
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"Our thoughts and deepest sympathies are with Barbara and the family."
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Fellow presenter James Naughtie said: "The reason listeners adored Nick was that his integrity and decency as a journalist was also the truth about the man.
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"It's awful that his voice has gone, but he inspired such love and respect among his colleagues that we will never forget it."
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Simon Elmes, who produced the Nick Clarke audio diary programme Fighting to be Normal, said:
"Until making the documentary about his illness, Fighting to be Normal, earlier this year, I had only ever known Nick as a wonderful voice on the radio and a 91Èȱ¬ party-acquaintance.
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"But working closely with him I felt the searing incisiveness of his journalistic intelligence, his fearsome honesty, not least about himself and his condition and - just as pervasive - his wry, often dark, sense of humour.
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"It was a huge privilege to share his story and to be allowed very close to his and Barbara's lives through very difficult moments and it made me understand just why Nick - and Barbara - inspired such love in those who knew them personally, and in Radio 4 listeners."
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Mary Hockaday, Deputy Head 91Èȱ¬ Radio News, said: "Nick Clarke was for many years one of the most important and instantly recognisable voices of 91Èȱ¬ Radio News.
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"His civility combined with independence of mind and political acuity made him hugely liked and respected by audiences and colleagues alike.
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"He will be greatly missed by the whole Radio News family."
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Jenny Abramsky, Director, 91Èȱ¬ Radio & Music, said:
"Nick was the consummate radio broadcaster - rigorous, fair, polite and tough.
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"He had a warmth that made listeners feel he was their champion and their friend. He had breadth and a curiosity to appreciate the wider world beyond politics.
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"Listeners loved him and Radio 4 is the poorer for his loss."
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Helen Boaden, Director of 91Èȱ¬ News, said:
"Nick was a superb journalist of enormous integrity.
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"He had a brilliantly forensic mind, a wry wit and a deep instinct for the power of language.
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"It's hard to imagine Radio 4 or 91Èȱ¬ journalism without him."
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Mark Byford, Deputy Director-General and Head of 91Èȱ¬ Journalism, said: "Nick Clarke will be remembered as one of the 91Èȱ¬'s greatest ever broadcasters.
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"I admired him hugely as an outstanding journalist and as a brilliant interviewer. I will remember him for his great style, intelligence and precision with words, matched by the fantastic focus he brought to the subject matter in hand.
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"He was so greatly loved and admired by both his audiences and by his colleagues.
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"Today my deepest sympathies go to his wife and family."
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Michael Grade, Chairman of the 91Èȱ¬, said: "Nick Clarke was one of the outstanding broadcast journalists of his generation, and held in great respect by his Radio 4 audience.
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"His series of audio diaries, in which he chronicled events both emotional and physical during the course of his illness, provided one of the most moving and courageous broadcasts in memory.
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"He will be greatly missed by his family, his audiences and by all of his friends, colleagues and admirers within the 91Èȱ¬. This is a very sad day."
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Nick Clarke had presented The World At One since March 1994, after five years on The World This Weekend.
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He was diagnosed with cancer at the end of 2005, which resulted in the amputation of his left leg.
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His highly personal audio diary, Fighting to be Normal, which charted his and his wife Barbara's experience with his illness, was broadcast on Radio 4 on 23 June 2006.
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After chemotherapy treatment he returned to presenting in June 2006 - chairing Radio 4's Any Questions? and lunchtime news programme The World at One.
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He had recently been undergoing further medical treatment.
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Nick began his career as a journalist with the Yorkshire Evening Post where he spent three years as a trainee reporter.
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In 1973 he joined the 91Èȱ¬ as a reporter in Manchester and in 1976 became Industrial Correspondent which involved reporting for what was then the Nine O'clock News on 91Èȱ¬ One.
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Three years later, Nick moved to The Money Programme on 91Èȱ¬ Two where he stayed for five years before joining the Newsnight team as a reporter, presenter and political correspondent.
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Nick also chaired Radio 4's Round Britain Quiz, regularly presided over Radio 4's Any Questions, and had also presented Business Breakfast on 91Èȱ¬ One.
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Nick had been involved in a wide range of other 91Èȱ¬ ventures - from TV documentary programmes like The Risk Business to the prestigious Radio 4 series Legacy of Empire.
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He won the Voice of the Listener and Viewer award for Best Individual Contributor to Radio (1999) and was voted Broadcaster of the Year (2000) by the Broadcasting Press Guild.
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Nick's best-selling biography of the veteran broadcaster Alistair Cooke was published in October 1999.
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His book The Shadow of a Nation was published in May 2003.
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Nick was born in Godalming, Surrey in 1948, and educated at Bradfield College, Berkshire and Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge where he studied modern languages.
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Nick had three children by his first marriage – Ali, Tom and Pete. He also had two children with his wife Barbara – Benedict and Joel.
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NL/91Èȱ¬ News Publicity
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