Terry Waite

Out of the Silence: Memories, Poems, Reflections by Terry Waite is a collection of prose and poetry and reflections of the life of the envoy. Waite was the Assistant for Anglican Communion Affairs for the then Archbishop of Canterbury, Robert Runcie, in the 1980s. As an envoy for the Church of England, he traveled to Lebanon to try to secure the release of four hostages, including the journalist John McCarthy. He was himself kidnapped and held captive from 1987 to 1991. He is president of the charity Y Care International (the YMCA's international development and relief agency) and patron of AbleChildAfrica and Habitat for Humanity Great Britain. He is also president of Emmaus UK, a charity for formerly homeless people.

There is something to be said about Terry Waite. Many today forget about the war on terrorism in the 1980s. It was the time when Reagan told the terrorists, “You can run but you can’t hide.” Unfortunately, America was not ready to support the president’s offer. I was in the Marines on Embassy Duty at the time and remember the reports of hostage-taking and especially the taking of Marine Colonel Richard Higgins who was involved in the peacekeeping in Lebanon. Higgins was killed by his captors in 1990.

Waite is a man of peace and someone, I believe Jesus (or any other religious figure) would be happy to have on his side. Waite went to Lebanon to negotiate the release of hostages. Despite assurances, he was taken hostage himself for five years, much of that time in solitary confinement. He was also physically tortured. Waite left the ordeal, not in anger. He believed his captors were misguided but he did not register hate. He admits that he did not fear death, but rather the method of death.

In this collection, Waite looks back at life and in twenty-seven chapters he leads with a narrative and then follows with poetry. To be honest the poetry does need the narrative lead in. His poetry is not quite as art but more closely related to therapy. There is emotion and honest reflection in the work. The topics range from his temporary (vacation) residence in New Zealand to aging, torture, and death. He speaks of his work with prisoners understanding their situation in captivity. He also mentions Richard Dawkins without being negative. He also talks about becoming a Quaker. One can be Anglican and Quaker according to Anglican rules. He also mentions his disappointment in how civilized nations can support torture and takes a hit at Guantanamo. Waite is one of the most honest persons speaking out today. His poetry may not stand on its own, but the narrative and the life behind it certainly makes it well worth reading.


… (altro)

Terry Waite, as many people will remember, was famous for being held hostage in Beirut for almost five years in the late 1980s.

As envoy for the Church of England he was trying to negotiate the release of another hostage when he was seized. For the majority of his imprisonment he was held in darkness in solitary confinement, with guards instructed not to speak to him. Almost 30 years on from that experience, Waite continues to work through understanding what it was within him that enabled him to mentally survive his experience, and the premise of this book is Waite's attempt to marry his experience of solitude with that experienced by people from a wide spectrum of places and circumstances (excluding those who have chosen a solitary life for religious reasons, about whom he felt much has already been written).

The book includes an intriguing cast of characters, including amongst others tough farmers who had chosen an isolated life in the Australian bush and the double secret agent George Blake. Whilst it read as a interesting travelogue of sorts, I don't think Waite successfully achieved his goal of reaching any enlightening depths on the topic of solitude. With Blake, for instance, he got caught up in his fascination with Blake's tales of how he became a double agent and whether he regretted that choice. It was certainly interesting to read, but it felt like the question of solitude was latched onto it as a bit of an afterthought to try to remain to topic. The same applied to many other stories - they were interesting for their own sake, but they really didn't get under the skin of solitude at all. Some were quite random and so brief (Myra Hindley, the notorious English child murderer, and Lana Peters, Stalin's daughter) that they read more as moments of name-dropping than anything else.

Having said that, I did enjoy reading this book. Terry Waite has led a unique and fascinating life, and it was an interesting assortment of people to read about. When I heard him speak at an event last week he mentioned that he's written six books across a number of genres books and has been trying to discover his writing voice or style. I think this writing naivety was very obvious in this book, with Waite overstretching himself both as an investigative journalist and as an armchair psychologist, but that aside I enjoyed my short trot around the globe with him.

3 stars - interesting,but would have benefited from some further editorial polishing.… (altro)

In the final decades of his life, humanitarian Terry Waite reflects on his experiences and relationships through poetry. Each poem is preceded by a short prose narrative that puts it into the context of Waite's life. Waite spent nearly five years as a hostage in Lebanon, and he seems to have become acclimated to solitude while in captivity. Solitude is a recurring theme in this collection of poems. Waite has earned worldwide respect for his survival through five years of captivity and for his many years of humanitarian work. Through poetry, he is able to share the wisdom he gained through the painful passages in his life.

The prose portion of this book was primarily written while Waite was on a retreat in New Zealand. Black and white drawings by Jenny Coles enhance Waite's poetry and prose. This collection would make a thoughtful gift for someone with an interest in humanitarianism, the events of the late 20th century, or New Zealand.

This review is based on an electronic advance readers copy provided by the publisher through NetGalley.… (altro)