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Tony Soper

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Tony Soper (10 January 1929 – 18 September 2024) was a British naturalist, author and broadcaster.

Life and career

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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.[1] He joined the BBC at 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 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. For many years he also had a regular column in the RSPB members' magazine.

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.

Soper's wife Hilary is a wildlife painter, and they had two sons. Soper died on 18 September 2024, at the age of 95.[1]

Honours

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Soper was a recipient of the British Naturalists' Association Peter Scott Memorial Award.[2]

DVDs

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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

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  • 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)[3]

References

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  1. ^ a b Moss, Stephen (19 September 2024). "Tony Soper obituary". The Guardian. Retrieved 19 September 2024.
  2. ^ "The Peter Scott Memorial Award" (PDF). bna-naturalists.org. British Naturalists' Association. Retrieved 21 June 2019.
  3. ^ Chalfont St Peter: Bradt Travel Guides. ISBN 9781841624839
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