George Alagiah, one of the longest-serving BBC journalists as well as an author of both fiction and nonfiction works, died July 24, the Bookseller reported. He was 67. Maggie Hanbury recalled how she became his literary agent more than two decades ago: "For many years I had watched and admired George Alagiah's reports when he was the BBC correspondent in Africa. I had decided to write to him asking if he had considered writing a memoir and if so could I represent him. One day, the phone rang and it was George, his beautiful voice travelling into my office. We arranged to meet and over coffee in my garden he appointed me as his literary agent and I was over the moon. This was the beginning of a long friendship and professional relationship. It has been one of the great pleasures of my life to represent George."
Of his debut book, she said, "When I was starting the process of finding the right publisher for George we visited several publishers and were greeted by enthusiastic teams of people all of whom wanted to sign him. The last visit we made was to Alan Samson, publisher at Time Warner as it then was.... As we walked into Alan's office he greeted George and said 'I've got the title for your book--A Passage to Africa.' George and I both knew we had found our publisher."
Hanbury added that Alagiah "was a fine writer, and a writer with whom the reader can easily connect. His brilliant ability to observe and understand enabled him to tell a story that was honest and humane. George's second book, A Home from Home, was about the experience of being an immigrant and he interviewed many, many people. Having been an immigrant himself, twice, he brought particular insight into the stories of others."
Richard Beswick, publishing director at Abacus, which published A Home from Home, said, "It won't surprise anyone to hear that he was the ultimate professional author--near-perfect scripts delivered scrupulously on time, followed by charismatic appearances at festivals and bookshops. What would be far more difficult now though, for someone in his position, is the way in which George did not hold back with his own views. Beneath the genuine warmth and courtesy was someone whose passion and decency shone through--whether he was writing about atrocities in Africa or his own experience of coming to the U.K. as a child--and still stand as a timely rebuke to those who would deny empathy to immigrant lives and experiences."
Alagiah's debut novel, The Burning Land (2019) was a political crime thriller set in contemporary South Africa. Hannah Knowles, publishing director at Faber, worked with Alagiah when she published the novel at Canongate. "They say never work with your heroes, but George was an exception to the rule," she observed. "He wore a lifetime of astounding achievements unbelievably lightly; always more interested in what everyone else had to say; and despite his razor-sharp mind, was never less than utterly modest and curious to learn more. He faced his illness with a staggering grace, and seemingly had endless reserves of compassion for others. Simply put, he was the best of us."