Tony Soper
{{Short description|British naturalist and broadcaster (1929–2024)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2024}}
{{Use British English|date=October 2024}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Tony Soper
| image =
| alt =
| caption =
| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1929|01|10|df=yes}}
| birth_place = Southampton, Hampshire, England
| death_date = {{Death date and age|2024|09|18|1929|01|10|df=yes}}
| death_place =
| other_names =
| education = Hyde Park Junior School
Devonport High School for Boys
| employer = BBC
| occupation = Author and broadcaster
| spouse = Hilary
| children = Two sons
| years_active =
| known_for = Ornithology
| notable_works =
}}
Tony Soper (10 January 1929 – 18 September 2024) was a British naturalist, author, and broadcaster.{{cite news |last1=Moss |first1=Stephen |title=Tony Soper obituary |url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/sep/19/tony-soper-obituary | access-date=19 September 2024 | newspaper=The Guardian |date=19 September 2024}}{{cite news| url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/2024/09/19/tony-soper-bbc-animal-magic-natural-history-unit/ | title=Tony Soper, BBC birdwatching and wildlife pioneer who co-presented Animal Magic in the 1960s | newspaper=The Telegraph | location=UK | date=19 September 2024 }}
Life and career
Soper was born on 10 January 1929, in Southampton, Hampshire, the son of Ella (nee Lythgoe), a former shop assistant and member of the local Townswomen's Guild, and Bert Soper, a shipping agent. Soon after Soper's birth the family moved to Plymouth where he attended Hyde Park Elementary School and Devonport High School for Boys. He joined the BBC at age 17 as a "youth-in-training", subsequently graduating by way of studio manager to features producer in radio, then moved into television. Among the radio programmes that he produced were Birds In Britain.
Soper co-founded the BBC Natural History Unit as its first film producer, with Patrick Beech the then South West Controller. Cutting his teeth on the LOOK series he organised far-flung wildlife filming projects. He presented live television programmes, including Birdwatch, Birdspot, Discovering Birds, Discovering Animals, Beside the Sea, Wildtrack and Nature. Soper also co-presented Animal Magic with Johnny Morris for a few years in the 1960s. He also had a supporter of the RSPB.{{cite web| url=https://group.rspb.org.uk/suttoncoldfield/news-blogs/news/tony-soper-part-of-sutton-coldfield-local-group-history/ | title=Tony Soper – Part of Sutton Coldfield Local Group History | publisher=RSPB| location=UK | website=group.rspb.org.uk | date=22 September 2024 | access-date=19 October 2024}}{{cite web| url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ViXrEztlV1k | title=Getting to know birds with Tony Soper RSPB Video | website=YouTube | date= August 2021| access-date=19 October 2024 }}
As Expedition Leader and a pioneer of wildlife cruising, he spent twenty years between 1992 and 2012 exploring both the North and South polar regions. He held a British yachtmaster's certificate and was a qualified compressed-air and oxygen hard-hat diver.{{cite web| url=https://www.tonysoper.com/biotimeline | title=Tony Soper: Broadcaster, exhibition leader, writer | website=tonysoper.com | access-date=19 October 2024}}
Soper's wife Hilary is a wildlife painter, and they had two sons. Soper died on 18 September 2024, at the age of 95.
Honours
Soper was a recipient of the British Naturalists' Association's Peter Scott Memorial Award.{{cite web |url=https://bna-naturalists.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Scott-award.pdf |title=The Peter Scott Memorial Award |author= |date= |website=bna-naturalists.org |publisher=British Naturalists' Association |access-date=21 June 2019 |quote=}} He was awarded the British Trust for Ornithology's Dilys Breese Medal in 2009.{{cite web|url=http://www.birdguides.com/webzine/article.asp?print=1&a=1827|title=A Gong For Barclay|last=Whitby|first=Max|publisher=BirdGuides|accessdate=15 January 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110722042948/http://www.birdguides.com/webzine/article.asp?print=1&a=1827|archive-date=22 July 2011|url-status=dead}}{{cite web| url=http://www.wildfilmhistory.org/person/25/Dilys+Breese.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090504215831/http://www.wildfilmhistory.org/person/25/Dilys+Breese.html | url-status=usurped | archive-date=4 May 2009 | work=WildFilmHistory | title=Dilys Breese | publisher=Wildscreen | accessdate=15 January 2011}}
DVDs
A single 23-minute episode of Wildtrack is available as a bonus feature on the DVD and Blu-ray release of David Attenborough's 1979 series Life on Earth.
Selected bibliography
{{div col}}
- The Bird Table Book (1965, several editions to 2006)''
- The Shell Guide to Beachcombing (1972)
- Wildlife Begins at Home (1975)
- Everyday Birds (1976)
- Wildlife of The Dart Estuary (1982)
- Discovering Birds (1983)
- Penguins [with John Sparks] (1987)
- A Passion For Birds (1988)
- Owls [with John Sparks] (1995)
- Wildlife of the North Atlantic (2008)
- The Arctic: A Guide to Coastal Wildlife (2012)
- The Northwest Passage (2012)
- Antarctica: A Guide to the Wildlife (2013)Chalfont St Peter: Bradt Travel Guides. {{ISBN|9781841624839}}
{{div col end}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- [http://www.tonysoper.com/ Tony Soper website]
- {{imdb name|0814642}}
- {{discogs artist|Tony Soper}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Soper, Tony}}
Category:Mass media people from Southampton
Category:People educated at Devonport High School for Boys
Category:English ornithologists
Category:English television presenters
Category:English television producers
Category:English radio producers
Category:BBC television producers
Category:BBC television presenters