Minute and The News Quiz. Travel writing: 1998–2004 In March 1998, the publishing house Hodder and Stoughton brought out McCarthy's first travel book, McCarthy's Bar: A Journey Of Discovery In Ireland. The work followed McCarthy's journey in Ireland over a six-month period by travelling from the south to the north-west of the country. A commercial success, it would sell over a million copies; in response, he admitted "to a childlike pleasure in seeing my own book take its place on the shelves among writers I've admired for years. And if the literary life gets a little dull, there's always the thrill of going into W H Smith and moving McCarthy's Bar in front of Bill Bryson before anyone catches you." The Daily Telegraph described it as an "affectionate, revealing and well-lubricated look at the changing face of a country" which discussed a series of "wide-eyed encounters". In 2002, his follow-up book appeared as The Road to McCarthy. Peter McCarthy wrote his books with pen and paper and upon answering a question that asked if he was a technophobe replied: "Yes big time. I've got a kettle and a fridge, but I don't own a computer, a word processor or even a typewriter." Moving from Brighton to a village in the South Downs in East Sussex with his family, he enjoyed taking solitary walks across the Downs, describing the landscape as "a kind of neolithic M25". After the success of his previous books, McCarthy was planning on writing a third travel work, exploring the six counties of Northern Ireland. The diagnosis of cancer in February 2004 changed this. McCarthy died at the Royal Sussex Hospital in Brighton on 6 October 2004; he was survived by his wife Irene and three daughters, Alice, Isabella and Coral. Bus operator Brighton & Hove named one of its fleet – bus 913 – after him in September 2006. Radio credits Radio shows he presented: Breakaway First Impressions X Marks the Spot American Beauty Cajun Country Radio shows he regularly starred in: Loose Ends Just a Minute The News Quiz Television credits He presented: Travelog Country Tracks The Pier Desperately Seeking Something He appeared in: They Came from Somewhere Else Awards Critics' Award for Best Comedy, Edinburgh Festival Fringe 1990 for Hangover Show Newcomer of the Year, British Book Awards 2002 References Bibliography External links Official Pete McCarthy site UK Gameshows entry Telegraph obituary 1951 births