Alan Riding (born 8 December 1943,

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

) is a British author and journalist. He was a long-time foreign correspondent for ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', most recently as the paper's European Cultural Correspondent based in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

. His latest book is ''And The Show Went On: Cultural Life in Nazi-Occupied Paris''.

Early life

After spending his first 11 years in Brazil, Riding went to England to attend

Rossall School Rossall School is a public school (English independent day and boarding school) for 0–18 year olds, between Cleveleys and Fleetwood, Lancashire. Rossall was founded in 1844 by St Vincent Beechey as a sister school to Marlborough College ...

, Lancashire, and later

Bristol University , mottoeng = earningpromotes one's innate power (from Horace, ''Ode 4.4'') , established = 1595 – Merchant Venturers School1876 – University College, Bristol1909 – received royal charter , type ...

. He studied law before deciding instead to become a journalist.

Career

Riding started with

Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters Corporation. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency was estab ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, covering the United Nations. In 1971, he left Reuters and moved to

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

to work as a freelance reporter, principally for ''

The Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and published digitally that focuses on business and economic current affairs. Based in London, England, the paper is owned by a Japanese holding company, Nikk ...

'', ''

The Economist ''The Economist'' is a British weekly newspaper printed in demitab format and published digitally. It focuses on current affairs, international business, politics, technology, and culture. Based in London, the newspaper is owned by The Econo ...

'', and ''

''. In 1978, he joined ''The New York Times'' as Mexico City bureau chief. Before leaving Mexico for Brazil in 1984, he wrote ''Distant Neighbors: A Portrait of the Mexicans'', on modern Mexico. As the Rio de Janeiro bureau chief, Riding covered the transitions from military regimes to democracies in Brazil and many neighboring countries as well as guerrilla wars and drug trafficking in

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal , national_motto = "Fi ...

and

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

. In 1989, after a brief stint in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

, he was named ''The New York Times''s Paris bureau chief, which included coverage of the European Union and NATO. In 1995, he became the paper's European Cultural Correspondent, a post that involved covering all the arts in the region. During this period, he also co-authored (with Leslie Dunton-Downer) "Essential Shakespeare Handbook" and "Opera". In 2007, Riding left journalism to write ''And The Show Went On'', published by Knopf in 2010. It has also been published in Britain and has been translated into Spanish, Catalan, French, Polish, Chinese and Portuguese. He has since devoted himself to writing for the theater. Riding lives in Paris, with his wife Marlise Simons who is a reporter for ''The New York Times''.

Awards

* 1981

Maria Moors Cabot Prize The Maria Moors Cabot Prizes are the oldest international awards in the field of journalism. They are presented each fall by the Trustees of Columbia University to journalists in the Western hemisphere who are viewed as having made a significant co ...

for Latin American Coverage. * 1992 Latin American Studies Association, Special Citation. * 2003 Order of the Águila Azteca, Mexico. * 2011 Palau I Fabre International non-Fiction Prize, Spain. * 2022 Honorary Doctor of Letters, Bristol University, UK (https://www.bristol.ac.uk/graduation/honorary-degrees/)

Books

Distant Neighbors
A Portrait of the Mexicans. Knopf, New York, 1985; Vintage 1986. ()

DK, New York and London, 2004. () * ttp://www.dk.co.uk/nf/Book/BookDisplay/0,,9781405312790,00.html Eyewitness Companions: Opera DK, New York and London, 2006. ()
And The Show Went On; Cultural Life in Nazi-Occupied Paris
Knopf, 2010; Vintage 2011. () * ''Libertadores'', Samsa Editions, Brussels, 2016.()

References

External links

Official websiteAuthor page on Alfred A. Knopf website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Riding, Alan 1943 births Living people People from Rio de Janeiro (city) British writers British male journalists People educated at Rossall School Alumni of the University of Bristol Reuters Financial Times people The Economist people The New York Times people Maria Moors Cabot Prize winners