Sharjah – John McCarthy, the British journalist who survived the 1986 Lebanon kidnapping, became an instant international celebrity upon his release almost 25 years ago.

He is among the writers visiting the Sharjah International Book Fair this year, and McCarthy’s narratives of his travels around the world and his ordeals have earned him one of the most distinguished places in the world of letters.

Apart from a series of presentations, he co-authored a hugely popular memoir, ‘Some Other Rainbow,’ following his release and in 2012, he came up with another book, ‘You Can’t Hide the Sun’ about his travels through Israel and Palestine.

Talking about his Beirut ordeal and its aftermath, he said: “I was very lucky to have a great deal of support when I came home from my hostage ordeal. Many people who suffer far worse traumas in their lives do not get the kind of support that was offered to me. People were very kind but also very interested in and respectful of my experiences as a captive and, while my experience was very unusual, I recognise that coping with adversity as my fellow hostages and I did, is a common human experience.”

Speaking about his acclaimed talks on his story of survival, he said: “I think people are interested in the basic story — what is it like to be kidnapped at gunpoint and kept hidden away for years on end without any contact with friends, family and the outside world in general? People expect to hear that the experience was very difficult — which it was — but the fact that, with my fellows, we not only survived, but built strong friendships with each other and still held on to optimism and a sense of humour is generally not expected and I think audiences find this encouraging.”

Shedding light on the issues facing humanity today, he said: “There are terrible inequalities in the living standards of people around the world. I think it is time that those of us in the developed world recognised that the people in less developed areas should have a fair share of the world’s resources (much of which are in the areas where the less well-off live) and therefore economic opportunities. These differences in prosperity seem to go hand in hand with the opportunity to enjoy basic human rights, security, political and social freedoms. “

He added: “I think we need to work at improving these inequalities now; the world is running out of natural resources and in so many areas — the Middle East obviously one of them — whole populations are living in danger from violent conflict.”

However, there are yet aspects of humanity that offer hope.

“The extraordinary thing is that even in the most terrible, dangerous or deprived situations, human beings seem able to maintain hope for the future and treat each other with respect and courtesy. That’s a really strong foundation to build from,” he said.

Hailing the Sharjah International Book Fair as the right platform to share ideas and understand various cultures, he said: “I’m very excited to be a part of SIBF 2015 — the thought of thousands and thousands of people coming together to talk about books and share ideas for a few days is wonderful. I’m looking forward to meeting people and learning from them. I think that the chance to meet others from different places and cultures is not only very interesting but also very important in trying to understand how the world works and therefore, how things might work better.”