Iain Finlay (21 October 1935 – 6 May 2025) was an Australian author, journalist, radio and television host, and humanitarian. He was known for his work with the ABC, including a lengthy stint as a foreign correspondent for

ABC News ABC News most commonly refers to: * ABC News (Australia), a national news service of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation * ABC News (United States), a news-gathering and broadcasting division of the American Broadcasting Company ABC News may a ...

Biography

Finlay was born in

Canberra Canberra ( ; ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the Federation of Australia, federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's list of cities in Australia, largest in ...

Australian Capital Territory The Australian Capital Territory (ACT), known as the Federal Capital Territory until 1938, is an internal States and territories of Australia, territory of Australia. Canberra, the capital city of Australia, is situated within the territory, an ...

in 1935, his father served in the military and was an aide-de-camp to Governor-General Issac Issacs He was educated at schools both locally and internationally and worked in the mines, before becoming a journalist, which one of Finlay's earliest jobs was reporting for the

United Press United Press International (UPI) is an American international news agency whose newswires, photo, news film, and audio services provided news material to thousands of newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations for most of the 20th ...

during the Melbourne Olympic Games in 1956. He co-founded and hosted the science and technology television series '' Beyond 2000.'' He was a presenter on the ABC current affairs radio program '' PM'', and also hosted ''

This Day Tonight ''This Day Tonight'' (TDT) was an Australian Broadcasting Commission The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is Australia’s principal public service broadcaster. It is funded primarily by grants from the federal government and ...

.'' He has written both fiction and non-fiction books. Finlay reported all over the world and visited more than 100 countries. He was named the 2017

Australia Day Australia Day is the official national day of Australia. Observed annually on 26 January, it marks the 1788 landing of the First Fleet and raising of the Flag of Great Britain, Union Flag of Great Britain by Arthur Phillip at Sydney Cove, a ...

ambassador.

Personal life

Finlay married Janice Phegan in 1958 and had one son, Guy, born in 1958. In 1962, Finlay moved to

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

and became the Southeast Asian correspondent for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Finlay left Hong Kong in 1965 leaving his family behind and continued a relationship with Trish Sheppard in New York until eventually returning to Australia. Finlay and Trish Clark had two children together and lived in

Tweed Heads Tweed Heads is a coastal city at the mouth of the Tweed River in the Northern Rivers region of the state of New South Wales, Australia. Tweed Heads is the northernmost town in New South Wales, and is located in the Tweed Shire local government ...

. Together, they worked on humanitarian and education initiatives in Asia, including building a primary school in

Laos Laos, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic (LPDR), is the only landlocked country in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by Myanmar and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the southeast, and Thailand to the west and ...

. Finlay, who had

amyloidosis Amyloidosis is a group of diseases in which abnormal proteins, known as amyloid fibrils, build up in tissue. There are several non-specific and vague signs and symptoms associated with amyloidosis. These include fatigue, peripheral edema, weigh ...

in his later years, died through voluntary assisted dying at his home in

Tumbulgum Tumbulgum ( ) is a village in northern New South Wales, Australia. It is in the Tweed Shire local government area, at the confluence of the Rous and Tweed Rivers, north east of the state capital, Sydney and south east of Brisbane. At the , ...

, New South Wales, on 6 May 2025, at the age of 89.

Bibliography

Source: * ''The Azanian Assignment'' (novel) * ''Africa Overland: A Trek from Cape Town to Cairo'' with Trish Sheppard * ''South America Overland: From New York to Tierra Del Fuego'' with Trish Sheppard * ''Across the South Pacific: Island-hopping from Santiago to Sydney'' with Trish Sheppard * ''Good Morning Hanoi - a year of radio in Vietnam'' with Trish Clark * ''Savage Jungle - An epic struggle for survival'',

Simon & Schuster Simon & Schuster LLC (, ) is an American publishing house owned by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts since 2023. It was founded in New York City in 1924, by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. Along with Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group US ...

, Sydney, 1991

References

External Links

* 1935 births 2025 deaths 20th-century Australian male writers 20th-century Australian non-fiction writers Deaths from amyloidosis Deaths by euthanasia 2025 suicides {{australia-writer-stub