Veteran journalist TJS George dies

way2barak, October 4: Renowned journalist and author Thayil Jacob Sony George, popularly known as T J S George, died at a private hospital in Bengaluru on Friday. He was 97.

A Padma Bhushan awardee, George was widely respected for his incisive writing, often marked by satire and sarcasm.

He served as the Editorial Advisor of The New Indian Express and earned acclaim for his widely read weekly column, Point of View, which he wrote for 25 years until 2022, continuing until the age of 94.

He began his career in 1950 at the Free Press Journal in Bombay and went on to work with the International Press Institute, The Searchlight, and the Far Eastern Economic Review. He was the founding editor of Asiaweek, published from Hong Kong.

George was the first editor in independent India to be imprisoned for exercising freedom of expression while at The Searchlight in Patna.

He authored around 20 books in English and Malayalam, including biographies of eminent personalities such as V K Krishna Menon, M S Subbulakshmi, Nargis, Pothan Joseph, and Lee Kuan Yew, as well as his memoir Ghoshayathra (The Procession).

In 2011, the Government of India honoured him with the Padma Bhushan. In 2017, he also received the Swadeshabhimani Award.

Condoling George’s demise, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said he was a distinguished journalist who transformed his career as an editor into a landmark chapter in Indian media history.

Hailing from Kerala, George spent most of his life in Bengaluru. He is survived by his children, Sheba Thayil and author-poet Jeet Thayil.