Ann Leslie

Dame Ann Elizabeth Mary Leslie, DBE (28 January 1941 – 25 June 2023) was a British journalist who wrote for the Daily Mail.

Dame

Ann Leslie

DBE
Born
Ann Elizabeth Mary Leslie

(1941-01-28)28 January 1941
Rawalpindi, Punjab Province, British India
Died25 June 2023(2023-06-25) (aged 82)
EducationLady Margaret Hall, Oxford
OccupationJournalist
TitleDBE
Spouse
Michael Fletcher
​
(m. 1969)​
Children1

Leslie was described as one of Britain's most famous and formidable journalists.[1]

Education

Leslie was born on 28 January 1941,[2] in Rawalpindi, British India (now in Pakistan), where she spent her early years, attending an English-language school and "witnessed the killing trains of Partition".[3] In 1950, her parents sent her to boarding school in England, where she attended the Presentation Convent School in Matlock, Derbyshire, and St Leonards-Mayfield School, East Sussex. She went on, two years later, to attend Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford.[4]

Career

Leslie's first job in journalism was at the Daily Express in Manchester in 1962.[5] Leslie moved to the Daily Mail in 1967. She interviewed major film stars, entertainers, and political figures, and reported on numerous wars, civil conflicts and political stories in around 70 countries. At the Reuters/Press Gazette launch of the Newspaper Hall of Fame, she was named as one of the most influential journalists of the last forty years. In David Randall's The Great Reporters (celebrating the 13 best British and American journalists of all time) she was profiled as "the most versatile reporter ever".

She was a regular current affairs panellist on the BBC (Question Time, Any Questions?, Dateline London), Sky News, and international broadcasting organisations.

Leslie was interviewed by National Life Stories (C467/18) in 2007–8 for the 'Oral History of the British Press' collection held by the British Library.[6]

Leslie was also interviewed in the 2012 documentary The Diamond Queen about Queen Elizabeth II.

Foreign assignments

Significant events on which she reported include the fall of the Berlin Wall, the failed coup against Mikhail Gorbachev, and Nelson Mandela's final walk to freedom. She made secret interviews in Iran and North Korea.[7][8] After a dangerous experience at a Zimbabwean ZANU farm, Leslie went back to the press hotel in Harare where other reporters sent back stories without venturing out of the hotel. She called them Avon ladies; only interested in make-up (as in made up stories).[9][10]

Her memoir, Killing My Own Snakes, was published in 2008.[11]

Personal life and death

In 1969, Leslie married Michael Fletcher, and they had a daughter.[12]

Leslie died on 25 June 2023, at the age of 82.[12]

Awards

Leslie won nine British Press Awards and won two Lifetime Achievement Awards. In 1999, she was awarded the James Cameron Award for international reporting.[13] She was created a DBE on 30 December 2006, for "Services to Journalism".[14] In 2012, Leslie won the Outstanding Contribution to Journalism Award at the eighth annual International Media Awards in London on 5 May 2012.[15][16][17] She was recognised as one of the BBC's 100 women of 2013.[18]

References
References
  1. "Obituary: Ann Leslie". BBC News. 27 June 2023. Retrieved 27 June 2023.
  2. Debrett's biodata Debrett's
  3. Cadwalladr, Carole (5 April 2009). "Ann Leslie, Queen of the frontline". The Guardian. London.
  4. "LMH, Oxford – Prominent Alumni". Retrieved 20 May 2015.
  5. ""The Indestructible Journos", The Independent, 12 June 2008. Retrieved 20 October 2008.
  6. National Life Stories, 'Leslie, Ann (1 of 6) National Life Stories Collection: 'Oral History of the British Press', The British Library Board, 2008. Retrieved 10 October 2017.
  7. "UK – Ann Leslie, a witness to history". BBC. 30 December 2006.
  8. "Programmes – Hardtalk – Dame Ann Leslie". BBC. 6 November 2008.
  9. INM (21 November 2005). "Ann Leslie: Stuff and nonsense". The Independent. Archived from the original on 18 March 2009. Retrieved 5 October 2015.
  10. "The Great Reporters – David Randall – Anne Leslie". greatreporters.co.uk.
  11. Cadwalladr, Carole (5 April 2009). "Ann Leslie, Queen of the frontline". The Observer. London. Retrieved 9 February 2012.
  12. "Dame Ann Leslie, doyenne of Fleet Street writers who interviewed presidents and covered wars from Bosnia to Afghanistan – obituary". The Daily Telegraph. 27 June 2023. Retrieved 27 June 2023.
  13. "Award winners". City University of London. Archived from the original on 8 May 2016. Retrieved 7 February 2017.
  14. "Journalists across the board recognised in New Year Honours list". Press Gazette. 5 January 2007. Retrieved 30 November 2022.
  15. "Awards: Next Century Foundation".
  16. "2012 Awards". The International Media Awards. Archived from the original on 4 June 2012. Retrieved 18 May 2012.
  17. "BBC Radio 4 – Desert Island Discs, Ann Leslie". BBC.
  18. "100 Women: Who took part?". BBC News. 20 October 2013. Retrieved 18 December 2022.
Sources
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