Ronald Payne | |
---|---|
Born | Ronald Staveley Payne 6 February 1926 Ripon, U.K. |
Died | 25 May 2013 Witney, Oxfordshire, U.K. | (aged 87)
Education | Bedford School |
Alma mater | Jesus College, Oxford |
Occupation(s) | Journalist, author |
Spouse | 3, including Celia Haddon |
Ronald Staveley Payne (6 February 1926 – 25 May 2013), or Ronnie Payne, was a British journalist and war correspondent who focused on espionage and terrorism.
Ronald Payne was born on 6 February 1926 in Ripon, Yorkshire, England.[1][2] His father was a Primitive Methodist minister.[1][2][3]
Payne was educated at Pocklington Grammar School and Bedford School.[1][2] During World War II, he served in the Royal Marines.[1][2] He subsequently attended Jesus College, Oxford.[1][2]
Payne began his career as a journalist at the Reading Mercury.[2] He subsequently wrote for the London Evening Standard.[1] In 1953, he joined the Daily Telegraph, first as a reporter and later as a foreign correspondent in Paris.[1][2] He wrote about French Algeria and French Indochina.[3] He also wrote about the Suez Crisis in 1956, and he interviewed Muammar Gaddafi in 1976.[1][4]
Payne co-authored several books with Christopher Dobson.[3] He was also the author of six non-fiction books about espionage or terrorism.[1][3]
Payne was married three times.[1] His third wife, Celia Haddon, was a journalist.[1] They retired in Witney, Oxfordshire.[1]
Payne died on 25 May 2013 in Witney.[1]