Iain Finlay

{{Short description|Australian author and journalist (1935–2025)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=October 2016}} {{Use Australian English|date=October 2016}} {{infobox person | name = Iain Finlay | birth_place = Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia | birth_date = {{Birth date|df=yes|1935|10|21}} | death_place = Tumbulgum, New South Wales, Australia | death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|2025|05|06|1935|10|21}} | occupation= {{hlist|Author|journalist |radio presenter |television host}} }}

'''Iain Finlay''' (21 October 1935 – 6 May 2025) was an Australian author, journalist, radio and television host, and humanitarian. He was known for his work with the ABC, including a lengthy stint as a foreign correspondent for ABC News.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |date=2017-01-15 |title=Former ABC journo named Tweed's Australia Day ambassador |url=https://www.echo.net.au/2017/01/former-abc-journo-named-tweeds-australia-day-ambassador/ |access-date=2022-10-07 |website=Byron Shire Echo|language=en-AU}}</ref>

== Early life and career == Finlay was born in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory in 1935, his father served in the military and was an aide-de-camp to Governor-General Issac Issacs<ref name=":0" />

He was educated at schools both locally and internationally and eventually at 18 years old, hitchhiked from Europe to South Africa with his friend, Noel White. Finlay and White then worked in the South African mines and then on the beaches as Lifeguards where they became mates with writer, Bryce Courtney.

Finlay worked in many jobs, in factories for Hanimex, worked at Qantas in Sydney Airport and eventually as a journalist, which one of Finlay's earliest jobs was reporting for the United Press during the Melbourne Olympic Games in 1956.<ref name=":0" />

He co-founded and hosted the science and technology television series ''Beyond 2000.''<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Todd |first=Nikki |date=2017-01-03 |title=Australia 'streets ahead' of anywhere else on Earth |url=https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nsw/tweed-heads/australia-streets-ahead-of-anywhere-else-on-earth/news-story/5510d27bdc4e9be5c78061da3d9e2745 |access-date=2022-09-22 |website=The Daily Telegraph}}</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com.au/books?id=qytWAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA61&dq=%22Iain+Finlay%22&article_id=4608,9130420&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiAntny2LaQAxUlR2wGHfxFLRkQuwV6BAgPEAc#v=onepage&q=%22Iain%20Finlay%22&f=false "Byond 2000"], "Guide Review" section, ''The Sydney Morning Herald'', 27 July 1987, p. 61. Retrieved 22 October 2025.</ref> He was a presenter on the ABC current affairs radio program ''PM'', on ABC radio morning shows (together with Patricia Sheppard),<ref>[https://books.google.com.au/books?id=aeFUAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA17&dq=%22Iain+Finlay%22&article_id=2575,6255731&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiAntny2LaQAxUlR2wGHfxFLRkQ6AF6BAgNEAM#v=onepage&q=%22Iain%20Finlay%22&f=false "Radio"] (programme gudie), ''The Age'', 2 August 1973. Retrieved 22 October 2025</ref> and also hosted ''This Day Tonight.'' <ref>{{Cite web|url=https://mumbrella.com.au/abcs-pm-celebrates-50-years-587603|title=ABC's PM celebrates 50 years|website=Mumbrella|date=7 July 2019}}</ref> He has written both fiction and non-fiction books.

Finlay reported all over the world and visited more than 100 countries.<ref name=":0" /> He was named the 2017 Australia Day ambassador.<ref name=":1" />

== Personal life and death == Finlay married Janice Phegan in 1958 and had one son, Guy, born in 1958.

In 1962, Finlay moved to Hong Kong and became the SE Asian correspondent for United Press. Finlay left Hong Kong in 1965 leaving his family behind and continued a relationship with Patricia Sheppard, whom he had met in Hong Kong. They lived in New York until Patricia moved back to her husband in England but eventually returned to New York to give birth to her daughter with Dick Sheppard.

Finlay and Patricia Sheppard returned to Australia in the early 70s and lived for a period on the North side of Sydney at Avalon and Palm Beach in New South Wales.

Finlay and Patricia Sheppard had one son together, Sheppard had a daughter with her English husband, Dick Sheppard whilst living with Finlay. Finlay and Clark lived in Tweed Heads.<ref name=":0" /> Together, they worked on humanitarian and education initiatives in Asia, including building a primary school in Laos.<ref name=":1" />

Finlay, who had amyloidosis in his later years, died through voluntary assisted dying at his home in Tumbulgum, New South Wales, on 6 May 2025. He was 89.<ref>[https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-05-07/abc-journalist-iain-finlay-dies-at-89-voluntary-assisted-dying/105262030 "Former ABC journalist Iain Finlay dies aged 89, choosing voluntary assisted dying"], abc.net.au. Retrieved 22 October 2025.</ref> Finlay was buried on his property wrapped in paperbark.

==Bibliography== * ''The Azanian Assignment'', New York: Harper & Row, 1978 - novel * ''Africa Overland: A Trek from Cape Town to Cairo'', London: Angus & Robertson, 1977 - with Patricia Sheppard * ''South America Overland: From New York to Tierra Del Fuego'', London: Angus & Robertson, 1980 - with Patricia Sheppard * ''Across the South Pacific: Island-hopping from Santiago to Sydney'', Angus & Robertson, 1981 - with Patricia Sheppard<ref>Jan McGuiness, [https://books.google.com.au/books?id=CfdUAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA2&dq=%22Iain+Finlay%22&article_id=6699,3432326&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiAntny2LaQAxUlR2wGHfxFLRkQ6AF6BAgHEAM#v=onepage&q=%22Iain%20Finlay%22&f=false "Novel troupe"], "News Diary" (column), ''The Age'', 8 May 1980. Retrieved 22 October 2025.</ref> * ''Good Morning Hanoi : A Year of Radio in Vietnam'', Pymble, NSW: Simon & Schuster, 2006 - with Patricia Clark * ''Savage Jungle : An Epic Struggle for Survival'', Sydney: Simon & Schuster, 1991 {{ISBN|0-7318-0279-9}}

Finlay also provided the illustrations for Patricia Sheppard's book, ''Australian Adventurers'' (Angus & Robertson, 1984).

==References== {{reflist}}

==Further reading== * Philip Bell and Kathe Boehringer, ''Australian Television'', Routledge, 1989, especially the chapter "Publicising Progress: Science on Australian Television" * Stuart Cunningham and Elizabeth Jacka, ''Australian Television and International Mediascapes'', Cambridge University Press, 1996

==External links== * {{IMDb name| 0277978}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Finlay, Iain}} Category:1935 births Category:2025 deaths Category:20th-century Australian male writers Category:20th-century Australian non-fiction writers Category:Deaths from amyloidosis Category:Deaths by euthanasia Category:2025 suicides Category:Male suicides Category:Writers who died by suicide