Peter returns to town for Books by the Beach
BBC journalist and former Scarborough Boys’ High School head boy Peter Taylor returns to his home town to appear at Books by the Beach next month. Peter will be sharing his new book Operation Chiffon – the Secret Story of MI5 and MI6 and the Road to Peace in Ireland with festival audiences.
He will be interviewed by former head of BBC Radio Helen Boaden, who is also the festival’s patron.
Helen and Peter worked together at the BBC and Peter is acknowledged to be one of the BBC’s most distinguished and respected journalists.
He is best known for his coverage of the Irish conflict over the past 50 years. He reported for the Panorama programme for many years and has won Lifetime Achievements Awards from both BAFTA and the Royal Television Society.
Peter has written 10 books, nine of them relating to Northern Ireland, terrorism and political violence. In Operation Chiffon. Peter shares, for the first time, the hidden story of the top-secret MI5 intelligence operation that helped bring peace to Ireland.
Drawing on exclusive interviews and his 50 years of knowledge, Peter will discuss how those involved risked their careers and lives to help secure the fragile peace that exists today.
As a Scarborian, Peter considers himself fortunate to have been brought up in the 1950s and 1960s when the town was the ‘Queen of Watering Places’. Scarborough had two open-air swimming pools and boasted a variety of entertainment venues. Notable highlights for him were Jimmy Young singing Unchained Melody at the Floral Hall and the appearance of the Beatles at the Futurist Theatre where the screaming fans drowned out the words of I Wanna Hold Your Hand
The Theatre in the Round – the Stephen Joseph Theatre – was above Scarborough Library.
Peter has always loved theatre and recalls how in his youth he climbed the vertiginous aisles of the Open Air Theatre selling playbills shouting “Programmes! Programmes!”
He has happy memories of his school life and many fellow students are among his oldest friends.
Books by the Beach runs from Friday, June 7 to Sunday, June 9. Peter will be at Queen Street Methodist Central Hall on Friday at 5.30pm.
This year is the 11th Books by the Beach festival and boasts a mix of bestselling novelists, nautical adventure, fascinating memoirs, poetry, history, fashion, marine conservation and comedy.
Among the guests are David Nicholls, Stacey Halls, Prof Joann Fletcher, Polly Toynbee, Helen Lederer and Alan Johnson.
Glena Young will be talking about her cosy crime series set in Scarborough on the Friday.
Full details of the festival programme are available at www.booksbythebeach.co.uk and all authors are appearing in-person.
Tickets for all events are on sale at the festival box office, YMCA Theatre, St Thomas Street, Scarborough. Call: 01723 506750 or email info@ymcayorks.uk
Tickets online: ymcatheatre. uk/books