J
ohn Simpson joined the BBC in 1966 and has reported from more than a hundred countries, covering war zones in Baghdad, Kabul and Libya and the Tiananmen Square massacre. He was left deaf in one ear after coming under friendly fire in northern Iraq — an attack that killed a member of his crew. Now 80, he is still the BBC’s world affairs editor and presents Unspun World with John Simpson on BBC2. He has won an Emmy and three Baftas, and was made a CBE in the Gulf War honours list for his reporting. He has two daughters from his first marriage and now lives with his South African wife, Dee, their son, Rafe, and their Irish terrier, Cody, in Oxford.
How much is in your wallet?
Nothing, because I’ve given up carrying cash almost altogether, which poses a problem when I want to buy a Big Issue from a couple of sellers I like and admire. Yes, I can pay with a debit card but what they really want is a nice crisp fiver or tenner. In the days when I was criss-crossing the world as a foreign correspondent, though, cash was king. I’d often fly out of Heathrow with a great wad of notes, usually dollars, stuffed into a money-belt so as to grease whoever’s palms needed greasing.
Reporting from Iraq in 2003
