About John McCarthy (journalist)
John Patrick McCarthy (born 27 November 1956), is a British journalist, writer and broadcaster, and one of the hostages in the Lebanon hostage crisis. McCarthy was the longest-held British hostage in Lebanon, having been imprisoned for more than five years. == Career == A scion of ancient Irish nobility, twin son of Patrick McCarthy (1927–2021) and Sheila née O'Brien, he attended Lochinver House School in Potters Bar, then Haileybury College in Hertfordshire, before studying American Studies at the University of Hull (BA, 1979). McCarthy was a journalist working for United Press International Television News at the time of his kidnap by Islamic Jihad terrorists in Lebanon. He had recently arrived in Beirut when on 17 April 1986, two days after USAF airstrikes on Libya, Worldwide Television News ordered him to leave. He was being escorted to the airport when a group of gunmen intercepted his car. He was held in captivity until release on 8 August 1991. He shared a cell with the Irish hostage Brian Keenan for several years. While a prisoner, he learned that his girlfriend, Jill Morrell, was actively campaigning for his release, launching a group called "Friends of John McCarthy". By the time of McCarthy's release, his mother Sheila had died of cancer in 1989, unaware of his fate.
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