Tom Carver

Thomas Richard Carver (born 1960) is a writer and former BBC foreign correspondent. He is also the step-grandson of Field Marshal The 1st Viscount Montgomery of Alamein.

Tom Carver
Born
Thomas Richard Carver

1960 (age 60–61)
Hereford, UK
EducationThe King's School, Canterbury
Alma materUniversity of Bristol
OccupationHead of global communications, carnegie endowment for international peace, author
Spouse(s)
​
(m. 1989)​
Children4
RelativesThe 1st Viscount Montgomery of Alamein (step-grandfather)
Websitehttp://www.tomcarver.net

Early life

Carver was born in Hereford in 1960. His grandfather, Oswald Carver, was an Olympic oarsman who rowed in the 1908 Summer Olympics in London. He was killed during the Battle of Gallipoli in 1916 aged 28. His grandmother, Elizabeth Carver, married Bernard Montgomery in 1927. Montgomery would go on to become Field Marshal Montgomery in the Second World War.

Carver was 15 when Lord Montgomery of Alamein died, and formed part of the guard of honour at his funeral at St. George's Chapel, Windsor Castle, as part of his school cadet force.[1] Carver was educated at The King's School in Canterbury, an independent boarding school for boys (now co-educational), followed by the University of Bristol.

Career

Carver joined the BBC as a local radio trainee. He became a BBC foreign correspondent, reporting on the withdrawal of the Soviet Army from Afghanistan, the collapse of the Soviet Union and the first Gulf War. In 1991, he was sent into northern Iraq to investigate reports that Saddam Hussein was massacring the Kurds and became one of the first journalists to witness the exodus of half a million Kurds across the mountains towards Turkey.

In 1991, he became BBC Africa correspondent for three years, covering the US-led invasion of Somalia otherwise known as Operation Restore Hope, the Angolan Civil War and the transition to black majority rule in South Africa. In 1994, he covered the Rwandan genocide.[2]

In 1995, he reported on the Massacre of Srebrenica during the Bosnian War as the BBC's Defence Correspondent.[3]

In 1997, he became the BBC Washington correspondent remaining in the post for 8 years.[4] He reported on the serial killings of dozens of women in Juarez, Mexico[5] and covered the disputed 2000 presidential election.[6][7] He was appointed BBC Newsnight Washington correspondent[8] and was an eyewitness at 11 September.[9]

In 2003, he was one of the few journalists to travel with Vice-President Dick Cheney through the Middle East in a prelude to the Iraq War.[10] He covered the 2004 election and was at the Democratic National Convention when Barack Obama gave his first national speech.[11] He left the BBC after the election to become Senior Vice-President at Control Risks.[12]

And then in 2008, he took up the post of Senior Vice-President at Chlopak, Leonard, Schechter a Washington-based communications consultancy[13] before joining the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace as head of Global Communications.[14]

Carver has written for numerous newspapers, including The Independent,[15] London Review of Books, The Sunday Times, New Statesman and The Guardian.[16]

Carver is the author of Where the hell have you been?, an account of his father Richard Carver's adventures during the Second World War in Italy, especially in Abruzzo's campaigns. It includes his escape from prisoner-of-war camp PG 49 at Fontanellato, thanks to the decision by the Commandant, Colonel Eugenio Vicedomini, to open the gates the day after the Armistice of 8 September 1943.[17]

Personal life

Since 1989, Carver has been married to BBC news anchor Katty Kay.[18] They have four children.

References
  1. "Roger Moorhouse in conversation with Tom Carver". HistoryToday. 9 October 2009. Retrieved 9 October 2009.
  2. "The art of writing and making films: SHOOTING DOGS". The Writing Studio. 1994. Archived from the original on 24 October 2007.
  3. "Film reveals scale of Srebrenica atrocity". BBC News. 1 July 1995.
  4. "With bill Clinton in martha's vineyard during monica Lewinsky scandal". BBC News. 21 August 1998.
  5. "Covered the mass murders of women in Juarez, Mexico". BBC News. 9 September 1999.
  6. "BBC Washington correspondent during 2000 election". BBC News.
  7. "Internet shaping journalism". BBC News. 29 October 2000.
  8. "BBC Washington correspondent for Newsnight". BBC News. 18 September 2003. Retrieved 18 September 2003.
  9. "Eyewitness During September 11th". BBC News. 15 September 2001. Retrieved 15 September 2001.
  10. "Traveled with Cheney in run up to Iraq War". BBC News. 21 March 2002. Retrieved 21 March 2002.
  11. "At 2004 democratic convention when Obama first emerged". BBC News. 31 July 2004. Retrieved 31 July 2004.
  12. "SVP at Control Risks".
  13. "SVP at CLS".
  14. "Tom Carver to head global communications for Carnegie Endowment". Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. 19 January 2011. Retrieved 19 January 2011.
  15. "Contributor to Independent newspaper". The Independent. Retrieved 1 February 2004.
  16. Carver, Tom (4 June 2004). "Guardian article on Green Card hell". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 4 June 2004.
  17. Carver, Tom (June 2010). Where the hell have you been?. Allen & Unwin. Excerpt
  18. "Katty Kay". HarperCollins Speakers Bureau.
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