The ends of life

In 1987, while negotiating the release of hostages in Beirut, Terry Waite was taken hostage. A diplomat and humanitarian, Waite gained international attention in the 1980s when, as a special envoy to the Archbishop of Canterbury, he successfully negotiated the release of hostages in Iran and Libya. In 1987, he himself was taken captive in Lebanon for 1,763 days.

During that time (four years of which was spent in solitary confinement) he was chained to a wall, often left in darkness, beaten and subjected to mock executions. Remarkably, he returned home from Beirut harboring no hostility or resentment toward his captors and has discovered a positive side of the experience. "It has given me increased empathy with those who are victims of warfare or oppression," he has said. His experiences are captured in his bestselling book Taken on Trust, and he now devotes most of his time to humanitarian causes all over the world.

Dalhousie is pleased to welcome Terry Waite, who will give the inaugural talk of the 2006  Segelberg Lecture Series in the Potter Family Auditorium, Kenneth C. Rowe Management Building at 5 p.m. on Feb. 28. The themes of his lecture will be public policy, spirituality and end of life. The lecture is free of charge and open to the public.

During his experience as a hostage in Lebanon when the end of his life seemed at hand, Waite contemplated the part of him that was not his body, "which they could break," nor his mind, "which they could break," but the part of him they could never reach.

The Waite lecture will open the discussion of these issues as they affect society as a whole and allow a broader examination of the personal, public and political focus of public policy by including that part "they could never reach" - human spirituality.

The Segelberg Lecture Series will continue over the next two and a half years with the next lecture scheduled for October, 2006.