Colin Edwards (journalist)
Encyclopedia
Colin Edwards was a radio journalist and documentary film maker. He was also an actor, author, university lecturer, Plaid Cymru
activist and founder of the American CADW (Committee to Aid the Defence of Wales). An expert on middle eastern affairs, and advisor to the United Nations and policy think-tanks, he was also interested in the arts, anthropology and science: his broadcasts included comment on the Irish theatre, European witchcraft, Congo tribal customs, chemical pesticides, the Abominable Snowman and Vernon Watkins
.
Much of Colin Edwards' early life was spent at the Kingsbridge Inn, Gorseinon
, near Swansea
. After attending local schools, he went to the Royal Naval College, Greenwich.
During World War II
in 1942 he joined the Fleet Air Arm. He flew as an observer on the Russian convoy route, was shot down over the Atlantic and later rescued.
After the war Edwards studied at St Catherine's College, Oxford
, but left within a year to take up journalism at the UN headquarters in New York.
In 1949 Edwards became a combat correspondent with the British army in Malaya, and then covered the wars in Burma, Indochina and Korea.
Over the next thirty years he broadcast radio documentaries from around the world, the majority on middle eastern affairs. He also produced commentaries on the wars in Biafra
, northern Ireland and Vietnam. More than two hundred of Edwards' documentaries and in-depth interviews were made available for distribution to universities and schools by the University of California at Berkeley.
From the 1970s Edwards virtually gave up radio reporting to concentrate on freelance lecturing and writing, including working with Yehudi Menuhin's father, Moshe, on his autobiography, The Menuhin Saga (published by Sidgwick and Jackson in 1982, and translated into four languages).
Colin Edwards died on 11 July 1994, in Oakland, California, where he and his wife, Mary, had lived for some thirty years. His ashes were brought to Swansea, and are interred at Oystermouth cemetery.
Contribution to Dylan Thomas
Colin Edwards used to return to Wales almost every year. In 1958 his cousin Mrs Tilly Roberts, who had been friendly with Dylan Thomas
when they were teenagers, put him in touch with Thomas's mother, Florence. Mrs Thomas and Edwards talked about Dylan as a boy and young man and thought it important that someone should "bring out the Dylan known to his friends and relatives in Wales, the Dylan of the years of growing up and maturing; the 'real Dylan'...before what happened towards the end." Florence suggested that Edwards should do the interviewing, and by 1968 he was able to write that "I have interviewed one hundred and twenty-two other relations, close friends and literary colleagues of Dylan during five extended visits home to Britain, three trips to Czechoslovakia and two to Italy." By the mid-seventies, he had interviewed one hundred and fifty-one people, adding France, Switzerland and Iran to the list of countries visited. Based on these interviews Edwards wrote an unpublished biography of Dylan, the first chapters of which - on Thomas's boyhood, school and time with the Little Theatre - are in the National Library of Wales. Edwards also made three documentaries for the Canadian Broadcasting Company, called The Real Dylan, Dylan as a Youth and My Son Dylan. On his death, Edwards's interviews were donated to the National Library of Wales. They have since been transcribed, edited and published.
Plaid Cymru
' is a political party in Wales. It advocates the establishment of an independent Welsh state within the European Union. was formed in 1925 and won its first seat in 1966...
activist and founder of the American CADW (Committee to Aid the Defence of Wales). An expert on middle eastern affairs, and advisor to the United Nations and policy think-tanks, he was also interested in the arts, anthropology and science: his broadcasts included comment on the Irish theatre, European witchcraft, Congo tribal customs, chemical pesticides, the Abominable Snowman and Vernon Watkins
Vernon Watkins
Vernon Phillips Watkins , was a British poet, and a translator and painter. He was a close friend of Dylan Thomas, who described him as "the most profound and greatly accomplished Welshman writing poems in English"....
.
Biography
Colin Edwards was born in 1924, the son of Brinley and Doris Edwards. His father worked in the meat trade, was a member of the Welsh Cob Society, a dog breeder, show judge, and an amateur historian. His mother had won a scholarship to the Sorbonne, but had not taken it up and had gone into teaching. She was a member of the Swansea Writers' Circle. After her second marriage she was known as Doris Williams; as Doris Seys Pryce she published poetry in the Welsh Review and other periodicals.Much of Colin Edwards' early life was spent at the Kingsbridge Inn, Gorseinon
Gorseinon
Gorseinon is a town in southwest Wales, near the Loughor estuary. It was a small village until the late 19th century when it grew around the coal mining and tinplate industries. It is situated in the north west of Swansea, around north west of the city centre...
, near Swansea
Swansea
Swansea is a coastal city and county in Wales. Swansea is in the historic county boundaries of Glamorgan. Situated on the sandy South West Wales coast, the county area includes the Gower Peninsula and the Lliw uplands...
. After attending local schools, he went to the Royal Naval College, Greenwich.
During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
in 1942 he joined the Fleet Air Arm. He flew as an observer on the Russian convoy route, was shot down over the Atlantic and later rescued.
After the war Edwards studied at St Catherine's College, Oxford
St Catherine's College, Oxford
St Catherine's College, often called Catz, is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Its motto is Nova et Vetera...
, but left within a year to take up journalism at the UN headquarters in New York.
In 1949 Edwards became a combat correspondent with the British army in Malaya, and then covered the wars in Burma, Indochina and Korea.
Over the next thirty years he broadcast radio documentaries from around the world, the majority on middle eastern affairs. He also produced commentaries on the wars in Biafra
Biafra
Biafra, officially the Republic of Biafra, was a secessionist state in south-eastern Nigeria that existed from 30 May 1967 to 15 January 1970, taking its name from the Bight of Biafra . The inhabitants were mostly the Igbo people who led the secession due to economic, ethnic, cultural and religious...
, northern Ireland and Vietnam. More than two hundred of Edwards' documentaries and in-depth interviews were made available for distribution to universities and schools by the University of California at Berkeley.
From the 1970s Edwards virtually gave up radio reporting to concentrate on freelance lecturing and writing, including working with Yehudi Menuhin's father, Moshe, on his autobiography, The Menuhin Saga (published by Sidgwick and Jackson in 1982, and translated into four languages).
Colin Edwards died on 11 July 1994, in Oakland, California, where he and his wife, Mary, had lived for some thirty years. His ashes were brought to Swansea, and are interred at Oystermouth cemetery.
Contribution to Dylan ThomasDylan ThomasDylan Marlais Thomas was a Welsh poet and writer, Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 11 January 2008. who wrote exclusively in English. In addition to poetry, he wrote short stories and scripts for film and radio, which he often performed himself...
studies
Colin Edwards used to return to Wales almost every year. In 1958 his cousin Mrs Tilly Roberts, who had been friendly with Dylan ThomasDylan Thomas
Dylan Marlais Thomas was a Welsh poet and writer, Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 11 January 2008. who wrote exclusively in English. In addition to poetry, he wrote short stories and scripts for film and radio, which he often performed himself...
when they were teenagers, put him in touch with Thomas's mother, Florence. Mrs Thomas and Edwards talked about Dylan as a boy and young man and thought it important that someone should "bring out the Dylan known to his friends and relatives in Wales, the Dylan of the years of growing up and maturing; the 'real Dylan'...before what happened towards the end." Florence suggested that Edwards should do the interviewing, and by 1968 he was able to write that "I have interviewed one hundred and twenty-two other relations, close friends and literary colleagues of Dylan during five extended visits home to Britain, three trips to Czechoslovakia and two to Italy." By the mid-seventies, he had interviewed one hundred and fifty-one people, adding France, Switzerland and Iran to the list of countries visited. Based on these interviews Edwards wrote an unpublished biography of Dylan, the first chapters of which - on Thomas's boyhood, school and time with the Little Theatre - are in the National Library of Wales. Edwards also made three documentaries for the Canadian Broadcasting Company, called The Real Dylan, Dylan as a Youth and My Son Dylan. On his death, Edwards's interviews were donated to the National Library of Wales. They have since been transcribed, edited and published.