Lionel Blue - Biography

Lionel Blue (born 6 February 1930) is a British Reform rabbi, journalist and broadcaster. He was the first British rabbi publicly to declare his homosexuality. Born in the East End of London, he was the son of a master tailor.

Blue read History at Balliol College, Oxford and Semitics at the University of London before being ordained as a rabbi in 1960. He spent time in the Army but was discharged after a nervous breakdown brought on by anxiety over his homosexuality.

He is best known for his longstanding and respected work with the media, most notably the wry and gentle sense of humour on "Thought for the Day" on BBC Radio 4's Today programme. He is also widely respected in the UK as a journalist, cook and author.

In July 1998 Blue was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from the Open University. He is also Honorary Doctor of Divinity & Fellow of Grey College, Durham.

Life as a rabbi

Between 1960 and 1963, Blue was the minister of the Settlement Synagogue and Middlesex New Synagogue. He then became the European Director of the World Union for Progressive Judaism. In 1967, he began a long-term engagement as lecturer at Leo Baeck College in London.

Coming out

Blue was the first British rabbi publicly to affirm his homosexual orientation and published Godly and Gay in 1981. He has been openly homosexual since the 1960s and has had three male live-in lovers. He met his most recent partner, Jim, in 1981 through a personal advertisement in Gay Times. However, his memoirs reveal that he considered marrying Joanna Hughes, a student whom he met whilst they were both students at Oxford in 1950.

He is an occasional guest speaker of the Jewish Gay and Lesbian Group. He is also a patron of Kairos in Soho, an organisation for homosexuals.

Broadcasting career

For more than 25 years, Blue has been a regular contributor to BBC Radio 4's Thought for the Day. In September 2006, a return trip to his childhood home in London's East End to mark the 350th anniversary of Jewish life in Britain was the subject of an evocative audioslideshow on the BBC News website. At a personal appearance at the Fairfield Hall, Croydon in December 2009, Lionel Blue asserted he would be back on Mondays in Thought For the Day on BBC Radio 4, in January 2010.

Health

He was diagnosed with epilepsy at the age of 57; however, he has to date successfully controlled his disorder with medication.

During an operation in 1997, a surgeon discovered a tumour which tests proved to be malignant. He went on to receive radiotherapy and hormonal treatment to reduce any further growth. He has also been diagnosed as having Parkinson's Disease.

Books

• A Backdoor to Heaven (Fount, 1985)
• Kitchen Blues (ISIS Large Print, 1986)
• Bolts from the Blue (Hodder & Stoughton, 1986)
• Bedside Manna (Victor Gollancz, 1991)
• Tales of Body and Soul (Coronet, 1995)
• My Affair with Christianity (Hodder & Stoughton General, 1999)
• Sun, Sand and Soul (Hodder & Stoughton General, 1999)
• Kindred Spirits (Fount, 1999).
• Hitchhiking to Heaven – Autobiography (Hodder & Stoughton General, 2004)
• The Godseeker's Guide (Continuum, 2010)

External links

• BBC Norfolk 2007 interview