Former hostage Terry Waite to give talk in Shrewsbury
Former hostage turned author and humanitarian Terry Waite will visit the county this weekend to talk about his time in captivity and his work since.
The 78-year-old, who was kidnapped in 1987 and only released in 1991, will be guest of honour at Shrewsbury School on Saturday and will give a free lecture at the school’s Ashton Theatre.
Entitled ‘Survival in Solitude’, Mr Waite, who is a co-founder of YCare, Hostage UK, and president of Emmaus for the Homeless, will describe his 1,763 days in captivity, much of which was in solitary confinement.
Over the years he has worked in conflict situations across the world.
As a member of the Archbishop of Canterbury’s private staff, he successfully negotiated the release of many hostages during the 1980s. But in 1987, while attempting to secure the release of four men held in Lebanon, he was taken hostage himself.
Mr Waite travelled to Beirut in December 2012 to reconcile with his captors and lay to rest what he described as the ghosts of the past.
Nowadays, he is involved with many other organisations concerned with prisoners and the vulnerable.
He is the recipient of many honorary doctorates from the UK and overseas and has been awarded the MBE and CBE.
In his talk he will discuss the reasons for his captivity, the conditions under which he was kept and the way he managed to maintain mental, spiritual and physical health in an extreme situation.
He will refer to his book, Out of the Silence, in which he speaks about the importance of language and memory in maintaining inner cohesion.
Signed copies of this book will be available for purchase on the evening.
Tickets for the lecture, which starts at 7.30pm, are free but must be reserved in advance, either online at ticketsource.co.uk/shrewsburyschool or from Juliet Young, email jyoung@shrewsbury.org.uk or call 01743 280812.
Alternatively follow the link from the homepage of the Shrewsbury School website shrewsbury.org.uk
