Paddy Feeny
Paddy Feeny is a retired English broadcaster. He was a presenter of the BBC World Service's Saturday Special (later renamed Sportsworld) programme from 1959 to 1995.
Biography
After working in theatre, Feeny's broadcasting career began at the age of 26, when he began working for BBC Radio Birmingham.[1] He moved to the World Service in the late 1950s, and began presenting Saturday Special in 1959.[1] The Saturday Special feature began with a duration of an hour during the summer months. Slowly its scope expanded, and with football playing an ever bigger role in British life, it became possible to have long editions in winter months also. The program would run for 2+ hours, sometimes as long as 3 hours 15 minutes, with only two 15-minute breaks for the news on the hour. It had an immense following all around the world and Paddy received letters and struck up friendships with many of its listeners.
The programmes closest to his heart, however, were those which he did for the developing world, drawing attention to humanitarian movements and initiatives. In this capacity, and when covering the Olympic and Commonwealth Games he travelled widely and met and related to people in all capacities of life. One of his programmes led to a book he wrote, The Fight Against Leprosy.
He also presented other BBC programmes, including Write On..., a selection of reader's letters, and was one of the presenters of Top of the Form on BBC radio and television. It is for the latter that he is probably best known, and for the BBC Science contest Young Scientists of the Year.
Throughout his career Paddy did a lot for charity, most notably for the mentally handicapped, on whose behalf he ran an annual charity cricket match in Ripley in Surrey, where he lived for many years before moving to West Sussex.
Paddy retired not long after the death of his wife Patricia Brewer in 1994, and he presented his last edition of Sportsworld in June 1995.[2] He is a supporter of Liverpool Football Club, but the sport nearest to his heart remains cricket.
He has two daughters, Cathy Feeny and Sarah Welch, four grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.
References
- 1 2 Rivlin, Mark (1992) "PADDY FEENY: FORTY YEARS OF BUILDING SPORTING FRIENDSHIPS", Jerusalem Post, 12 April 1992, p. 8
- ↑ Lewis, Ori (1995) "Farewell Paddy, we'll miss you", Jerusalem Post, 27 June 1995, p. 10