Born in Dublin in 1942, Anthony Clare was the best-known psychiatrist of
his generation. His BBC Radio 4 show, In the Psychiatrist's Chair,
which ran from 1982 to 2001, brought him international fame and changed
the nature of broadcast interviews forever. Famous interviewees included
Stephen Fry, Anthony Hopkins, Spike Milligan, Maya Angelou and Jimmy
Savile, each of whom yielded to Clare's inimitable, gentle yet probing
style.
Clare made unique contributions to the demystification and practice of
psychiatry, most notably through his classic book Psychiatry in
Dissent: Controversial Issues in Thought and Practice (1976). This
book, the first, official biography of this much-loved figure, examines
the man behind these achievements: the debater and the doctor, the
writer and the broadcaster, the public figure and the family man. Using
extensive public and family records, we ask: Who was Anthony Clare,
really? What drove him? And what is to be learned from his life, his
career, and his unique, sometimes controversial legacy to our
understanding of the mind? This is the remarkable story of a remarkable
person.
