Gerald Priestland – SIGNED LETTER 1981

A fine autograph letter from Gerald Priestland to Noel Ripley, dated January 20th 1981, typed on headed white writing paper – ‚’BBC British Broadcasting Corporation, Broadcasting House, London W1A 1AA Telephone 01-580 4468 Telex: 265781 Telegrams and cables: Broadcasts London Telex’ – with one light vertical fold.

In full: ‚’Dear Noel Ripley, You are excessively kind to me. But I am having such disasters trying to keep up with this year’s engagements that I dare not contemplate next year – already I have the Swarthmore for Friends and a series of three lectures in Scotland, so I fear I must still beg to be excused. Sincerely, Gerald Priestland.’

Gerald Priestland (1927‚Äì1991) was a British broadcaster whose BBC career ranged from frontline foreign reporting to reflective religious commentary. Educated at Charterhouse and New College, Oxford, he became the BBC’s youngest foreign correspondent in 1954, serving in New Delhi, Washington and the Middle East. Later a television newsreader and Radio 4 presenter, he was BBC religious affairs correspondent from 1977‚Äì82, bringing a questioning, Quaker-influenced intelligence to programmes such as Priestland’s Progress and Yours Faithfully broadcasts.