Alan Riding, Times Correspondent in Latin America and Paris, Dies at 82
Alan Riding, who trained as a barrister in London before becoming a cosmopolitan correspondent for The New York Times, one whose reporting spanned the boulevards of Paris and the salons of Lisbon as much as the politics and insurgencies he encountered in Latin America, died on Saturday in Paris.He was 82.The death, in a hospital, was confirmed by his wife, Marlise Simons, a longtime reporter for The Times.
The cause was cancer.Born in Brazil to British parents, Mr.Riding spent much of his working life reporting from Central and South America and Mexico, emerging as an authoritative voice in explaining those regions to the rest of the world.
He notably did so with a 1984 book, “Distant Neighbors: A Portrait of the Mexicans,” a study of Mexico’s society as well as the country’s economics, politics and relations with the United States over several generations.Mr.Riding eventually settled in Paris, first as The Times’s bureau chief there and then as the newspaper’s European cultural correspondent, covering a range of topics including architecture and ballet.With his signature wide-brimmed fedora and his penchant for cigars, Mr.
Riding — one of a small cohort of British journalists among the predominantly American foreign staff of The Times — seemed at home among the intellectuals and bons viveurs of Paris and other cities, versed as he was in the languages, cuisines, arts and nuances of France, Portugal, Spain and Italy.And he ranged beyond newspaper work.As an author, he also wrote a historical study of the ambiguities and compromises of the French cultural elite during the Nazi occupation of France in World War II.
As a student of culture and creativity, he produced authoritative reference works on opera and the plays of William Shakespeare.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into you...