Reeve, Simon 1972-

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Reeve, Simon 1972-

PERSONAL: Born 1972, in London, England; son of Alan and Cynthia (a homemaker) Reeve; husband of Anya Courts. Education: Attended secondary schools in Uxbridge and Portsmouth, England; attended Working Men’s College, London, 1995-96. Hobbies and other interests: Family and friends, writing, travel, long walks, politics.

ADDRESSES: Agent—(literary) Robert Kirby, (television) Rosemary Scoular, United Agents, 130 Shaftes-bury Ave., London W1D 5EU, England.

CAREER: Ealing Gazette, London, England, reporter, 1991; Sunday Times, London, began as mail person, became staff writer and deputy night editor, 1991-96; Vision Investigations, London, managing editor, 1996-97; freelance writer, 1997—. Television presenter and broadcaster, 2002—, including writing and presenting with the British Broadcasting Corp., series Equator, Tropic of Cancer, Places that Don’t Exist, Meet the Stans, and Tropic of Capricorn. Cancer Research Campaign, volunteer manager of a charity shop, 1990-91.

AWARDS, HONORS: One World Broadcasting Trust award for an outstanding contribution to greater world understanding.

WRITINGS:

The New Jackals: Ramzi Yousef, Osama bin Laden, and the Future of Terrorism, Northeastern University Press (Boston, MA), 1999.

One Day in September: The Story of the 1972 Munich Olympics, Arcade Publishing (New York, NY), 2000, published with new epilogue as One Day in September: The Full Story of the 1972 Munich Olympics Massacre and the Israeli Revenge Operation “Wrath of God,” 2006.

Tropic of Capricorn: Circling the World on a Southern Adventure, BBC Books (London, England), 2008.

Contributor to periodicals, including Time, Esquire, Observer, and Sunday Times.

ADAPTATIONS: The book One Day in September was adapted as an Academy Award-winning documentary film, narrated by actor Michael Douglas, and released in 2000.

SIDELIGHTS: Simon Reeve once told CA: “In the television series Equator, I headed east around the planet, passing through troubled areas of Africa, Asia, and Latin America, and the region of the world with both the richest biodiversity and perhaps the greatest concentration of human suffering. Among the countries visited were Gabon, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda, Kenya, Indonesian Sumatra, Borneo and Sulawesi, the Galapagos Islands, Ecuador, Colombia, and Brazil. In the series Places that Don’t Exist, I traveled to and through a group of countries so obscure they don’t officially exist. Among the unrecognized nations visited were Somaliland, Transdniestra, Nagorno-Karabkh, Ajaria, and South Ossetia. And in Meet the Stans, I visited the Central Asian states of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan.”

Reeve later added: “For my 2008 book and television series Tropic of Capricorn: Circling the World on a Southern Adventure, I set out on a journey to track the southern border of the tropics region, traveling east through Africa, Australia and South America, and discovering breathtaking sights, strange rituals, desperate poverty and exotic wildlife. Following Capricorn took me across great deserts, awesome mountains, remote valleys and sun-kissed beaches. But it was encounters with the people of Capricorn that left the greatest impression, including the Bushmen of the Kalahari, Namibian prostitutes, gem miners in Madagascar, Australian Aboriginals, and indigenous tribes in South America. Along the way I investigated elephant culling in southern Africa, bleaching of the Great Barrier Reef, went hunting with the Aché people in Paraguay, and made pizzas with teenagers in the Brazilian favela, once described as the most dangerous place on Earth.

“The idea with the Tropic of Capricorn project was to blend a travelogue with natural history, politics and stories of extraordinary lives all linked by one invisible line. It was my greatest challenge yet, and a unique opportunity to learn more about forgotten corners of the globe.”