Veteran Journalist TJS George Passes Away at 97
Chennai: TJS George, an internationally-recognized veteran journalist, author, and Padma Bhushan awardee, passed away on Friday at the age of 97.
Born in Kerala, Thayil Jacob Sony George graduated from Madras Christian College before beginning his illustrious journalism career at the Free Press Journal in Bombay in 1950. Among his colleagues was Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackeray, who famously referred to the FPJ News Desk as the ‘Malayali Club’ — a nickname George later recalled in a column.
George went on to work with the Far Eastern Review and became the Founder Editor of Asiaweek magazine in Hong Kong. Reflecting on the magazine’s success, he said in a 2020 interview, “The success of Asiaweek was remarkable. And it was overnight. Clearly, there was a widely felt need for an Asian journal with an Asian viewpoint.”
However, George expressed regret over the magazine’s eventual downfall. “In the end, it became a half job, half done. I was responsible for its fall,” he lamented, referring to changes in ownership that led Asiaweek to become “Americanised” and “irrelevant” to Asia.
Long before founding the international magazine, George had made headlines in 1965 when Bihar Police arrested him on charges of sedition while he was Editor of The Searchlight. He was the first editor in India to be jailed on such a charge. Years later, George recounted how his refusal to “consult” the government before publishing reports irked then Bihar Chief Minister Krishna Ballabh Sahay. His factual coverage of a students’ bandh in Patna particularly provoked the authorities, leading to his arrest.
Later in life, George settled in Bangalore and served as Editorial Adviser for The New Indian Express for many years. His Sunday column, A Point of View, ran uninterrupted for a record 25 years until 2022. He was known to display his typewriter in the office to inspire younger journalists about the crucial role such tools played in pre-computer journalism.
A great connoisseur of art and culture, TJS George authored several acclaimed biographies, including The Life and Times of Nargis, M S Subbulakshmi: The Definitive Biography, and Krishna Menon: A Biography. (Interestingly, Menon, the former Defence Minister and lawyer, defended George during his Bihar case.) He also penned Lee Kuan Yew’s Singapore. His last book, The Dismantling of India, was published in 2022.
Known for his pleasant nature, George often engaged in conversations with journalists much younger than himself. He was fond of having a peg of rum each evening. After a brief stay in Coimbatore, he returned to Bengaluru where he lived until his passing.
His wife, Ammu, predeceased him in January of this year. Poet and novelist Jeet Thayil is his son.
