A. J. Beirens

Albert J. Beirens^[1] (May 1947 – 25 June 2020) was a Belgian radio producer and journalist.^[2]

Early life

Beirens was born in Bruges in May 1947.^[3]

Career

In the 1970s, Beirens was a radio producer at various pirate stations, including Radio North Sea International and Radio Atlantis, which were legal radio stations that broadcast from a ship Mebo II^[4] in the North Sea.^[1] For nearly 4 years, every Sunday morning, A. J. Beirens broadcast the radio show "NorthSea Goes Dx" in several languages to thousands of listeners.^[4] For more than 30 years, he worked for the BBC and the VRT, the national Flemish broadcasting station, as a correspondent.^[5] He also worked for Radio Nova in Italy, Radio Paradijs (Knokke-Heist), Radio Dynamo, ORO Nieuwsdienst and VRT.^[6] He was a radio correspondent for Zeebrugge and Knokke-Heist. As a maritime journalist, AJ Beirens specialized in news about the port of Zeebrugge and the English Channel.^[7] He wrote several books^[8] including one about the refugee problems during World War II.^[9] A. J. Beirens supported the French branch of the free radio campaign called "Offshore Echo's France" since 1974.^[4]

In May 2020, his health deteriorated. He opted for euthanasia and died on 25 June 2020 at age 73.^[7][10][6]