Jonathan Carr (1942–2008) was a British journalist and author, who lived and worked primarily in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. He was born in

Berkhamsted Berkhamsted ( ) is a historic market town in Hertfordshire, England, in the River Bulbourne, Bulbourne valley, north-west of London. The town is a Civil parishes in England, civil parish with a town council within the borough of Dacorum which ...

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and one of the home counties. It borders Bedfordshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Essex to the east, Greater London to the ...

.''Financial Times'', 20 June 2008, "FT writer who showed a passion for Germany"
obituary He worked as a correspondent in turns for

Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide writing in 16 languages. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency ...

Radio Free Europe Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) is a media organization broadcasting news and analyses in 27 languages to 23 countries across Eastern Europe, Central Asia, the Caucasus, and the Middle East. Headquartered in Prague since 1995, RFE/RL ...

, ''

The Economist ''The Economist'' is a British newspaper published weekly in printed magazine format and daily on Electronic publishing, digital platforms. It publishes stories on topics that include economics, business, geopolitics, technology and culture. M ...

'', ''

The Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and also published digitally that focuses on business and economic Current affairs (news format), current affairs. Based in London, the paper is owned by a Jap ...

'', and again for ''The Economist''. He met then-

chancellor Chancellor () is a title of various official positions in the governments of many countries. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the (lattice work screens) of a basilica (court hall), which separa ...

Helmut Schmidt Helmut Heinrich Waldemar Schmidt (; 23 December 1918 – 10 November 2015) was a German politician and member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), who served as the chancellor of West Germany from 1974 to 1982. He was the longest ...

professionally; they eventually developed a close personal friendship, and he wrote the biography ''Helmut Schmidt: Helmsman of Germany'' in 1985.Library of Congress Online Catalog, author entry "Carr, Jonathan, 1942-"
/ref> His 1993 book '' Goodbye Germany'', occasioned by

German reunification German reunification () was the process of re-establishing Germany as a single sovereign state, which began on 9 November 1989 and culminated on 3 October 1990 with the dissolution of the East Germany, German Democratic Republic and the int ...

, was an international bestseller, and in 1998 he wrote ''

Mahler Gustav Mahler (; 7 July 1860 – 18 May 1911) was an Austro-Bohemian Romantic composer, and one of the leading conductors of his generation. As a composer he acted as a bridge between the 19th-century Austro-German tradition and the modernism ...

: a Biography'' of the

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

n composer. He died in

Königswinter Königswinter (; ; Low Franconian: ) is a town and summer resort in the Rhein-Sieg district, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Geography Königswinter is situated on the right bank of the Rhine, opposite Bad Godesberg, at the foot of the ...

North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia or North-Rhine/Westphalia, commonly shortened to NRW, is a States of Germany, state () in Old states of Germany, Western Germany. With more than 18 million inhabitants, it is the List of German states by population, most ...

at the age of 66, on 12 June 2008, on the very day his final book '' The Wagner Clan'' was published.

Works

*''Helmut Schmidt: Helmsman of Germany''. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1985. ; US edition: New York: St. Martin's Press, 1985. *''The Real Mahler''. London: Constable, 1997. ; US edition: ''Mahler: A Biography''. Woodstock, N.Y.: Overlook Press, 1998. *''The Wagner Clan''. London: Faber & Faber, 2007. ; US edition: ''The Wagner Clan: The Saga of Germany's Most Illustrious and Infamous Family''. Atlantic Monthly Press, 2007.

References

1942 births 2008 deaths British male journalists 20th-century British biographers 20th-century British male writers British male biographers Mahler scholars Wagner scholars {{UK-writer-stub