Rory Peck (13 December 1956 – 3 October 1993) was a Northern-Irish

freelance ''Freelance'' (sometimes spelled ''free-lance'' or ''free lance''), ''freelancer'', or ''freelance worker'', are terms commonly used for a person who is self-employed and not necessarily committed to a particular employer long-term. Freelance w ...

war

cameraman A camera operator, or depending on the context cameraman or camerawoman, is a professional operator of a film camera or video camera as part of a film crew. The term "cameraman" does not imply that a male is performing the task. In filmmakin ...

who was killed while covering the events of the

1993 Russian constitutional crisis The 1993 Russian constitutional crisis, also known as the 1993 October Coup, Black October, the Shooting of the White House or Ukaz 1400, was a political stand-off and a constitutional crisis between the Russian president Boris Yeltsin and t ...

Work

Rory Peck covered the first

Gulf War The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Iraq were carried out in two key phases: ...

; the wars in

Bosnia Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and He ...

and

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

, the many armed conflicts that followed the

dissolution of the Soviet Union The dissolution of the Soviet Union, also negatively connoted as rus, Разва́л Сове́тского Сою́за, r=Razvál Sovétskogo Soyúza, ''Ruining of the Soviet Union''. was the process of internal disintegration within the Sov ...

. He was one of the founders of the independent Frontline Television News agency. Rory was shot and killed outside the Ostankino TV Centre in Moscow by

Boris Yeltsin Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin ( rus, Борис Николаевич Ельцин, p=bɐˈrʲis nʲɪkɐˈla(j)ɪvʲɪtɕ ˈjelʲtsɨn, a=Ru-Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin.ogg; 1 February 1931 – 23 April 2007) was a Soviet and Russian politician wh ...

's loyalists (the

Internal Troops The Internal Troops, full name Internal Troops of the Ministry for Internal Affairs (MVD) (russian: Внутренние войска Министерства внутренних дел, Vnutrenniye Voiska Ministerstva Vnutrennikh Del; abbreviat ...

' special forces unit Vityaz) while covering the

Russian constitutional crisis of 1993 The 1993 Russian constitutional crisis, also known as the 1993 October Coup, Black October, the Shooting of the White House or Ukaz 1400, was a political stand-off and a constitutional crisis between the Russian president Boris Yeltsin and t ...

. He was posthumously awarded the

Order for Personal Courage Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood * Heterarchy, a system of organization wherein the elements have the potential to be ranked a number of ...

by Yeltsin.

Personal life

He was born in the United States in 1956, and grew up in

County Dublin, Ireland "Action to match our speech" , image_map = Island_of_Ireland_location_map_Dublin.svg , map_alt = map showing County Dublin as a small area of darker green on the east coast within the lighter green background of ...

. He was educated mainly in Dublin, and also briefly in Monaco and the U.S. On his father's side, the Pecks were from

Glasgow, Scotland Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

; his mother's family, the Titcombes, were from Maine and New York City. His maternal grandmother was from a French-speaking family in New Orleans of French and Spanish descent. There were journalists and many writers in his late father Julian Peck's family including Rawle Knox (foreign correspondent for ''The Observer''), Father

Ronald Knox Ronald Arbuthnott Knox (17 February 1888 – 24 August 1957) was an Catholic Church in England and Wales, English Catholic priest, Catholic theology, theologian, author, and radio broadcaster. Educated at Eton College, Eton and Balliol Colleg ...

, E.V. Knox (editor of ''Punch''), Winifred Peck, and

Penelope Fitzgerald Penelope Mary Fitzgerald (17 December 1916 – 28 April 2000) was a Booker Prize-winning novelist, poet, essayist and biographer from Lincoln, England. In 2008 ''The Times'' listed her among "the 50 greatest British writers since 1945". ''The Ob ...

. After school his first interest was ocean engineering; he started at the Florida Institute of Technology, then transferred to Heriot-Watt, Edinburgh – leaving there for travel, then military training, and eventually journalism. He was gifted in mathematics and spoke Russian, French and Persian. He had one sister, Julia, a photographer, and one brother Colin Peck – also a TV journalist, known for his coverage of the first Chechen war and for locating the Marsh Arabs of southern Iraq during the US-led invasion of Iraq. Both brothers worked and filmed together in Moscow. His first marriage, in 1981, was to Jane, daughter of

Denis Alexander, 6th Earl of Caledon Earl of Caledon, of Caledon in the County of Tyrone, is a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created in 1800 for James Alexander, 1st Viscount Caledon. He was a merchant who had made an enormous fortune in India. He also represented the ...

, and they had two sons, James and Alexander. The marriage was dissolved in 1987. His second marriage, in 1991, was to Juliet Elizabeth Crawley (1961–2007). They had a daughter, Lettice. Juliet Peck (died 2007), with John Gunston, helped establish the Rory Peck Trust after her husband's death.

Rory Peck Trust and Rory Peck Award

The

Rory Peck Trust The Rory Peck Trust is an international NGO that supports freelance journalists and their families in crisis. Based in London, UK, it provides practical assistance and support to freelance journalists worldwide, to raise their profile, promote th ...

is a charitable trust that was set up in 1995 to administer an

award An award, sometimes called a distinction, is something given to a recipient as a token of recognition of excellence in a certain field. When the token is a medal, ribbon or other item designed for wearing, it is known as a decoration. An awar ...

named after Rory Peck.The Rory Peck Trust
The Trust supports freelance newsgatherers and their families in times of crisis, and offers bursaries to freelancers to help them undertake Hostile Environment Training.UK Kosovo film wins Peck award
,

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...

...

Work

Personal life

Rory Peck Trust and Rory Peck Award

Notes

References

External links