HUGHES, Stephen Ormsby 1924-2005

OBITUARY NOTICE—See index for CA sketch: Born January 21, 1924, in Crosby, Lancashire, England; died June 27, 2005, in Rabat, Morocco. Journalist and author. Hughes was a foreign correspondent for various newspapers and agencies who lived and worked for over fifty years in the North Africa nation of Morocco. Losing his mother in a German air raid on Liverpool during World War II, he joined the Royal Air Force in 1942 and became a pilot. After the war, he found work as a reporter for the Stroud Journal, later also working for Kemsley Newspapers and, during the early 1950s, in Paris for the Continental Daily Mail. Hearing of a job opportunity with the Atlantic Courier in Morocco, Hughes won an assignment with this paper in 1953 and was stationed in Casablanca. He began to favor the people of Morocco, and decided to remain there for the rest of his life. He reported for the Atlantic Courier for the first ten years, then was a correspondent and bureau chief for the Reuters news agency through 1995. In his later years he also did freelancer work, sending in reports to the Associated Press, the New York Times, and, beginning in 1995, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). Over the decades, Hughes saw Morocco gain its independence, reported on the assassination attempts against King Hassan II in 1971 and 1972, witnessed government oppression against that nation's people, and, finally in the late 1990s, saw the nation begin to come into its own. Hughes published a book about Morocco titled Morocco under King Hassan, in 2000, and also cowrote Guide to Morocco (1989). In addition, he released a book about his favorite avocation, fly fishing, titled Tight Lines and Dragonflies (1972); translated poetry; and wrote three radio plays for the BBC.

OBITUARIES AND OTHER SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Independent (London, England), July 2, 2005, p. 38.

Times (London, England), September 19, 2005, p. 56.