The son of an Irish actor, Fergal Keane began his career in journalism straight out of school at age 18. Within 10 years he was a correspondent for the BBC, first in Northern Ireland and then in South Africa and Asia, winning numerous awards for his war dispatches as well as his books and other works. He read his Letter to Daniel on the BBC 4 radio program From Our Own Correspondent shortly after his son’s birth. Despite concerns his deeply personal missive was inappropriately emotional for the staid BBC, it was an immediate hit with the listening audience and earned Keane two additional awards. In later years Keane faced his own battles with alcohol and credits the love of his family for saving him from his father’s fate.


Jude Law read this incredible letter at the Royal Albert Hall in London in 2019.