Editing Terry Waite

{{short description|English human rights activist (born 1939)}}
{{Use British English|date=August 2015}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2015}}
{{Infobox person
| honorific_prefix   = [[Sir]]
| honorific_suffix   = {{post-nominals|country=GBR|KCMG|CBE|size=100%}}
| name               = Terry Waite
| image              = File:Terry Waite.jpg
| landscape          = yes
| caption            = Waite in September 2016
| birth_name         = Terence Hardy Waite
| birth_date         = {{birth date and age|df=yes|1939|05|31}}
| birth_place        = [[Bollington]], [[Cheshire]], England
| occupation         = {{hlist|Humanitarian|author|negotiator}}
| organisation       = {{ubl|[[Hostage International]]|Y Care International}}
}}
'''Sir Terence Hardy Waite''' {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|KCMG|CBE}} (born 31 May 1939<ref name=Birth>{{cite news |title=Hostage Waite Gets Belated Birthday Wish|url=http://articles.latimes.com/keyword/terry-waite |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151208234735/http://articles.latimes.com/keyword/terry-waite |url-status=dead |archive-date=8 December 2015 |work=Los Angeles Times|access-date=12 December 2015 |date=9 June 1989 |quote=Friends and colleagues of Anglican Church envoy Terry Waite on Thursday sent him a belated birthday wish published in the independent newspaper An Nahar. Waite, who was kidnapped in Lebanon two and a half years ago, spent his 50th birthday on May 31 in captivity }}</ref>) is a British human rights activist and author.

Waite was the Assistant for Anglican Communion Affairs for the then [[Archbishop of Canterbury]], [[Robert Runcie]], in the 1980s. As an envoy for the [[Church of England]], he travelled to Lebanon to try to secure the release of four hostages, including the journalist [[John McCarthy (journalist)|John McCarthy]]. He was himself kidnapped and held captive from 1987 to 1991.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-20654574|title=Kidnapped Waite returns to Beirut|date=2012-12-09|work=[[BBC News]]|access-date=2020-03-13|language=en-GB}}</ref>

After his release he wrote ''Taken on Trust'' (1994), a [[memoir]] about his experiences, and became involved in humanitarian causes and charitable work.

== Early life and career==
The son of a village policeman in [[Styal]], Cheshire, Waite was educated at Stockton Heath County Secondary School where he became [[head boy]].<ref>{{Cite news|last=Padman|first=Interview by Tony|date=2016-05-13|title=Terry Waite: 'My children can be extremely stubborn. They get it from me'|language=en-GB|work=The Guardian|url=https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2016/may/13/terry-waite-former-hostage-negotiator-lebanon-release-family-values|access-date=2020-03-13|issn=0261-3077}}</ref><ref name=":0" /> Although his parents were only nominally religious, he showed a commitment to [[Christianity]] from an early age and later became a Quaker and an Anglican.

Waite joined the [[Grenadier Guards]] at [[Caterham Barracks]], but an allergy to a dye in the uniform obliged him to depart after a few months.<ref>{{cite book|author=Hymns Ancient & Modern Ltd|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NmdG2kk8juwC&pg=PA28|title=ThirdWay|date=December 1993|publisher=Hymns Ancient & Modern Ltd|pages=28}}</ref> He then considered a monastic life, but instead joined the [[Church Army]], a social welfare organisation of the [[Anglican Church]] modelled on the [[Salvation Army]], undergoing training and studies in London. While he was held captive in the 1980s, many Church Army officers wore a simple badge with the letter "H" on it to remind people that one of their members was still a hostage and was being supported in prayer daily by them and many others.

In 1963, Waite was appointed education adviser to the Anglican [[Bishop of Bristol]], [[Oliver Tomkins]], and assisted with Tomkins's implementation of the SALT (Stewardship and Laity Training) programme in the diocese, along with [[Basil Moss (priest)|Basil Moss]]. This position required Waite to master psychological [[T-group (social psychology)|T-group]] methods, with the aim of promoting increased active involvement from the laity. During this time he married Helen Frances Watters.<ref>{{cite book|author=Trevor Barnes|title=Terry Waite|url=https://archive.org/details/terrywaite0000barn|url-access=registration|date=1 June 1992|publisher=Bethany House Publishers|isbn=978-1-55661-303-6|page=[https://archive.org/details/terrywaite0000barn/page/54 54]}}</ref> As a student, Waite was greatly influenced by the teachings of [[Ralph Baldry]].<ref>{{cite book|author=Terry Waite|title=Taken on Trust|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AzJDCgAAQBAJ&pg=PT228|date=8 September 2016|publisher=John Murray Press|isbn=978-1-4736-2757-4|pages=228}}</ref>

In 1969, he moved to [[Uganda]] where he worked as Provincial Training Adviser to [[Erica Sabiti]], the first African Anglican [[Archbishop of Uganda, Rwanda, and Burundi]] and, in that capacity, travelled extensively throughout East Africa. Together with his wife and their four children, Waite witnessed the [[Idi Amin]] coup in Uganda and he and his wife narrowly escaped death on several occasions. From his office in Kampala, Waite founded the Southern Sudan Project and was responsible for developing aid and development programmes for the region.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web|title=Terry Waite not bitter about nearly 5 years in captivity|url=https://www.tampabay.com/archive/1995/08/13/terry-waite-not-bitter-about-nearly-5-years-in-captivity/|access-date=2021-08-27|website=Tampa Bay Times|language=en}}</ref>

His next post was in [[Rome]] where, from 1972, he worked as an international consultant to the [[Medical Mission Sisters]], a Roman Catholic order seeking to adapt to the leadership reforms of [[Vatican II]]. From this base, he travelled extensively throughout Asia, Africa, the Americas and Europe, conducting and advising on programmes concerned with institutional change and development, inter-cultural relations, group and inter-group dynamics and a broad range of development issues connected with health and education.<ref name=":2" />

== Archbishop's special envoy ==
Waite returned to the [[United Kingdom]] in 1978, where he took a job with the [[British Council of Churches]]. In 1980, the [[Archbishop of Canterbury]], [[Robert Runcie]], appointed him the Archbishop of Canterbury's Assistant for Anglican Communion Affairs on the recommendation of Tomkins and Bishop [[John Howe (bishop)|John Howe]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Waite|first=Terry|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AzJDCgAAQBAJ&dq=Assistant+for+Anglican+Communion+Affairs&pg=PT409|title=Taken on Trust|date=2016-09-08|publisher=John Murray Press|isbn=978-1-4736-2757-4|language=en}}</ref><ref name=pr80150>{{Cite web|url=https://www.episcopalarchives.org/cgi-bin/ENS/ENSpress_release.pl?pr_number=80150|title=Episcopal News Service: Press Release # 80150|website=www.episcopalarchives.org|access-date=2020-03-13}}</ref> Based at [[Lambeth Palace]], Waite again travelled extensively throughout the world and had a responsibility for the Archbishop's diplomatic and ecclesiastical exchanges.<ref name=pr80150/> He arranged and travelled with the Archbishop on the first ever visit of an Archbishop of Canterbury to China and had responsibility for travels to Australia, New Zealand, [[Burma]], the United States, Canada, [[the Caribbean]] and [[South Africa]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|last=Waite|first=Terry|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AzJDCgAAQBAJ&dq=china&pg=PT43|title=Taken on Trust|date=2016-09-08|publisher=John Murray Press|isbn=978-1-4736-2757-4|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|date=1981-12-21|title=AROUND THE WORLD; Anglican Prelate To Make a Visit to China|language=en-US|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1981/12/21/world/around-the-world-anglican-prelate-to-make-a-visit-to-china.html|access-date=2020-03-13|issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

=== Hostage negotiator ===
In 1980, Waite successfully negotiated the release of several hostages in [[Iran]]: [[Iraj Mottahedeh]] (Anglican priest in Esfahan), Dimitri Bellos (diocesan officer), Nosrat Sharifian (Anglican priest in Kerman), Fazeli (church member), Jean Waddell (who was secretary to the Iranian Anglican bishop [[Hassan Dehqani-Tafti]]), Canon John Coleman and Coleman's wife.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Waite|first=Terry|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AzJDCgAAQBAJ&dq=Iraj+Mottahedeh&pg=PT436|title=Taken on Trust|date=2016-09-08|publisher=John Murray Press|isbn=978-1-4736-2757-4|language=en}}</ref> On 10 November 1984, he negotiated with [[Muammar Gaddafi]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.readersdigest.co.uk/culture/celebrities/i-remember-terry-waite|title=I remember: Terry Waite - Reader's Digest|website=www.readersdigest.co.uk|language=en|access-date=2020-03-13}}</ref> for the release of the four remaining British hostages held in the [[Libyan Hostage Situation 1984|Libyan Hostage Situation]], Michael Berdinner, Alan Russell, Malcolm Anderson and [[Robin Plummer]] and was again successful.
[[File:Terry Waite Spec Envoy to Arbshp Canterbury.jpg|thumb|right|Terry Waite in 1985]]
From 1985, Waite became involved in hostage negotiation in [[Lebanon]] and assisted in negotiations which secured the release of [[Lawrence Jenco]] and David Jacobsen.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://apnews.com/20b8c8b815e57151938e911b1ee0fb4e|title=Lawrence Jenco, Roman Catholic Priest Held Hostage in Lebanon|website=AP NEWS|access-date=2020-03-13}}</ref> American officials secretly facilitated the sale of arms to the [[Ruhollah Khomeini|Khomeini]] government of Iran with a view to obtaining Iranian help in the release of hostages held in Lebanon. Waite's use of an American helicopter to travel secretly between Cyprus and Lebanon and his appearance with Lt Colonel [[Oliver North]], meant that he was compromised when the [[Irangate]] scandal broke in 1986. Against advice, Waite felt a need to demonstrate his continuing trust and integrity, and his commitment to the remaining hostages.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/runcie-considered-sacking-waite-before-hostage-trip-1558243.html|title=Runcie 'considered sacking Waite before hostage trip'|last=Cohen|first=Nick|author-link=Nick Cohen|date=19 October 1992|website=The Independent|language=en|access-date=13 March 2020}}</ref>

=== Captivity and release ===
Waite arrived in Beirut on 12 January 1987 with the intention of negotiating with the [[Islamic Jihad Organization]], which was holding hostages, including [[Terry A. Anderson]] and [[Thomas Sutherland (academic)|Thomas Sutherland]].<ref>Terry Waite. ''Taken on Trust''. Hodder & Stoughton, 1993. p. 3,. {{ISBN|978-0-340-62452-4}}.</ref> On 20 January, he agreed to meet the captors of the hostages as he was promised safe conduct to visit the hostages, who, he was told, were ill. The group broke trust and took him hostage.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Ap|date=1987-02-01|title=Abductors in Beirut Demand That Israel Free 400 Prisoners|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1987/02/01/world/abductors-in-beirut-demand-that-israel-free-400-prisoners.html|access-date=2020-03-13|issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/november/18/newsid_2520000/2520055.stm|title=1991: Church envoy Waite freed in Beirut|date=1991-11-18|access-date=2020-03-13|language=en-GB}}</ref> Waite remained in captivity for 1,763 days, the first four years of which were spent in [[solitary confinement]]. He was released on 18 November 1991.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.churchtimes.co.uk/articles/2017/24-november/news/uk/from-the-archive-bells-ring-nationwide-to-welcome-terry-waite|title=From the archive: Bells ring nationwide to welcome Terry Waite|website=www.churchtimes.co.uk|access-date=2020-03-13}}</ref>

== Release and afterwards ==
Following his release, he was elected a [[Commoner (academia)|fellow commoner]] at [[Trinity Hall, Cambridge]] where he wrote his first book, ''Taken on Trust'' (1994), a [[memoir]] of his captivity in Lebanon. It became a [[best-seller]] in the UK and internationally.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|title=Terry Waite - ARU|url=https://aru.ac.uk/graduation-and-alumni/honorary-award-holders2/terry-waite|access-date=2020-03-13|website=aru.ac.uk|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|title=Former hostage Terry Waite on why he seeks solitude in Suffolk|url=https://www.ft.com/content/d5a1f264-7221-11e7-aca6-c6bd07df1a3c |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221210/https://www.ft.com/content/d5a1f264-7221-11e7-aca6-c6bd07df1a3c |archive-date=10 December 2022 |url-access=subscription|url-status=live|access-date=2020-03-13|newspaper=Financial Times|date=4 August 2017 }}</ref>

Waite decided to devote himself to studying, writing, lecturing and humanitarian activities. His second book, ''Footfalls in Memory'', a further meditation on his captivity in Lebanon, was published in the UK in 1995 and also became a best-seller. His most recent book, published in October 2000, ''Travels with a Primate'', is a humorous account of his journeys with his former boss, Robert Runcie. Waite has also contributed articles to many journals and periodicals, ranging from ''[[Reader's Digest]]'' to the ''Kipling Journal'', and has also supplied articles and forewords to many books.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Our President |url=https://newmarketopendoor.org.uk/what-we-offer/ |access-date=2024-12-18 |website=Open Door Newmarket |language=en-GB}}</ref> 

In 2004, Waite returned to Beirut for the first time since his release. He told the BBC, "If you are bitter, it will eat you up and do more damage to you than to the people who have hurt you."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/3503239.stm |title=Ex-hostage Waite free from bitterness |publisher=BBC|date=19 February 2004}}</ref>

On 31 March 2007, Waite offered to travel to Iran to negotiate with those holding British sailors and marines seized by Iran in disputed waters on 23 March 2007.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/6514567.stm |title=Bush attacks Iran over captives |work=BBC News |date=1 April 2007 |access-date=20 August 2010}}</ref>

Waite travelled again to Beirut in December 2012 to reconcile with his captors and lay to rest what he described as the ghosts of the past.<ref>{{cite news |title=Terry Waite returns to Lebanon 25 years after kidnapping |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/dec/09/terry-waite-returns-lebanon-kidnapping |access-date=31 March 2014 |newspaper=The Guardian |location=London |date=9 December 2012}}</ref>

==Charity work==
In January 1996, Waite became patron of the [[Warrington Male Voice Choir]] in recognition of the humanitarian role adopted by the choir following the [[Warrington bomb attacks]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.warrington-worldwide.co.uk/2016/04/04/concert-to-thank-choir-patron-terry-waite/|title=Concert to thank choir patron Terry Waite|date=2016-04-04|website=Warrington Worldwide|language=en-GB|access-date=2020-03-13}}</ref> Since then, he has appeared with the choir for performances in prisons in UK and [[Ireland]] to assist in rehabilitation programmes. Prison concerts have become a regular feature of the choir's [[Christmas]] activities.

Waite is co-founder and president of the charity Y Care International ([[YMCA]]'s international development and relief agency) and in 2004, he founded [[Hostage UK]], an organisation designed to give support to hostage families.<ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Cite web|last=Cooper|first=Ben|date=2019-01-10|title=The Interview: Lara Symons, Director of Hostage International|url=https://travelriskmedia.co.uk/the-interview-lara-symons-director-of-hostage-international/|access-date=2020-03-13|website=Travel Risk Media|language=en-US}}</ref> Waite became president of [[Emmaus UK]], a charity for formerly [[Homelessness|homeless people]], shortly after his release from captivity in 1991.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Our leaders & ambassadors|url=https://emmaus.org.uk/about-us/leadership-and-ambassadors/|access-date=2021-08-27|website=Emmaus UK|language=en}}</ref><ref name=":3">{{Cite news|date=2011-11-18|title=Ex-hostage Terry Waite reflects on 20 years of freedom|language=en-GB|work=BBC News|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-suffolk-15775937|access-date=2021-08-27}}</ref> 

He is patron of several organisations including [[Storybook Dads]], a UK charity which allows prisoners to send recordings of themselves reading bedtime stories to their own children, to help stay connected to some of the 200,000 children affected by parental imprisonment each year. He is a patron of [[Habitat for Humanity]] Great Britain, the [[George Bramwell Evens|Romany Society]] and Strode Park Foundation in Kent.<ref name=":3" /><ref>{{cite web|title=Our patrons|url=https://www.storybookdads.org.uk/faqs/patrons|access-date=3 February 2019|website=Storybook Dads}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Membership {{!}} The Romany Society|url=http://romanysociety.org.uk/wp/?page_id=213|access-date=2021-08-27|language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|title=Strode Park Foundation Annual Report 2019-2020|pages=12}}</ref>

==Honours and awards==
In 1991, following his release Waite was elected a [[Commoner (academia)|fellow commoner]] at [[Trinity Hall, Cambridge]].<ref name=":1" /> In 1992, Waite received the [[Four Freedoms Award]] for the Freedom of Worship.<ref>{{cite web |title=Four Freedoms Awards |url=http://www.rooseveltinstitute.org/four-freedoms-awards |work=Roosevelt Institute |access-date=6 September 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150325223647/http://www.rooseveltinstitute.org/four-freedoms-awards |archive-date=25 March 2015 |df=dmy-all }}</ref> In the same year, [[Durham University]] made him an honorary [[Doctor of Civil Law]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.dur.ac.uk/university.calendar/archive/volumei/2011.2012/honorary_degrees/|title=Honorary Degrees|website=University of Durham|access-date=8 October 2015}}</ref> In 2001, [[Anglia Ruskin University]] awarded him an honorary Doctor of Philosophy.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ww2.anglia.ac.uk/ruskin/en/home/microsites/honorary/waite.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150123044627/http://ww2.anglia.ac.uk/ruskin/en/home/microsites/honorary/waite.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=23 January 2015|title=Terry Waite CBE Honorary Doctor of Philosophy, 2001|website=Anglia Ruskin University|access-date=8 October 2015}}</ref> On 30 May 2009, at a ceremony in [[Ely Cathedral]], the [[Open University]] made him an honorary D.Univ.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www3.open.ac.uk/ceremonies/graddir.pdf|title=Conferment of Honorary Degrees and Presentation of Graduates (2009)|website=The Open University|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100215134836/http://www3.open.ac.uk/ceremonies/graddir.pdf|archive-date=15 February 2010}}</ref> He was awarded an honorary degree by the [[University of Chester]] in 2009.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.chester.ac.uk/universities-week-2011-mon |title=Universities Week - Monday 13th June 2011|publisher=Chester.ac.uk |access-date=1 September 2011}}</ref>

In 2006 he was elected a [[visiting fellow]] of [[Magdalen College, Oxford]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sciencefestival.co.uk/speaker-bio/586|title=Speakers – Terry Waite|website=Edinburgh International Science Festival|access-date=8 October 2015}}</ref>

Waite was appointed [[Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George]] (KCMG) in the [[2023 Birthday Honours]] for services to charity and humanitarian work.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=64082|supp=y|page=B3|date=17 June 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|author=Hennessy, Ted|title=Former hostage Terry Waite says honour is 'peak' achievement |journal=The Independent|date=16 June 2023|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/islamic-lebanon-suffolk-beirut-church-of-england-b2359291.html|access-date=2023-06-16}}</ref>  

== See also ==
* [[Le Commodore Hotel Beirut]]
* [[Lebanon hostage crisis]]
* [[List of kidnappings]]
* [[Lists of solved missing person cases]]
* [[Iran–Contra affair]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

== Bibliography ==
* {{Cite book | last = Barnes | first = Trevor | title = Terry Waite: Man with a Mission | publisher = Collins Fontana | year = 1987 | location = London |isbn=0-8028-0332-6}}
* {{Cite book |last=Bell |first=Ni |title=In The Footsteps of War: Ninety Years of Remembrance |publisher=Brimar Entertainment |year=2011 |location=London |isbn=978-0-9570902-0-0}} 
* {{Cite book |last=Bell |first=Ni |title=In The Footsteps of War: The Definitive Edition |publisher=Brimar Entertainment |year=2015 |isbn=978-0-9570902-6-2 |location=London, United Kingdom}}

==External links==
* [https://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/war-hotels/2018/12/beirut-commodore-hotel-safe-haven-world-media-181204070555021.html War Hotels: How Beirut's Commodore Hotel became a safe haven for world media (Aljazeera English documentary)]

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Waite, Terry}}
[[Category:1939 births]]
[[Category:1980s missing person cases]]
[[Category:20th-century Anglicans]]
[[Category:21st-century Anglicans]]
[[Category:20th-century British Army personnel]]
[[Category:20th-century English memoirists]]
[[Category:20th-century Quakers]]
[[Category:21st-century Quakers]]
[[Category:People from Bollington]]
[[Category:British people taken hostage]]
[[Category:Church Army people]]
[[Category:Commanders of the Order of the British Empire]]
[[Category:Converts to Quakerism]]
[[Category:English Anglicans]]
[[Category:English people imprisoned abroad]]
[[Category:English Quakers]]
[[Category:English victims of crime]]
[[Category:Fellows of Trinity Hall, Cambridge]]
[[Category:Foreign hostages in Lebanon]]
[[Category:Grenadier Guards soldiers]]
[[Category:Kidnapped British people]]
[[Category:Kidnappings by Islamists]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Missing person cases in Lebanon]]
[[Category:Quaker writers]]
[[Category:Writers from Cheshire]]
[[Category:Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George]]
[[Category:English expatriates in Uganda]]
[[Category:Hostage negotiators]]
[[Category:People of the Lebanese Civil War]]
[[Category:Military personnel from Cheshire]]