# Alan Gibson > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Alan_Gibson > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Alan_Gibson.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Gibson > Source revision: 1345281999 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|English journalist, writer and radio broadcaster}} {{Use dmy dates|date=January 2020}} {{Infobox person | name = Alan Gibson | image = Alan Gibson 1976.jpg | caption = Gibson in the 1970s | birth_name = Norman Alan Stewart Gibson | birth_date = {{birth date|1923|5|28|df=yes}} | birth_place = [Sheffield](/source/Sheffield), [Yorkshire](/source/Yorkshire), England | death_date = {{death date and age|1997|4|10|1923|5|28|df=yes}} | death_place = [Taunton](/source/Taunton), [Somerset](/source/Somerset), England | education = [Taunton School](/source/Taunton_School) | alma_mater = [The Queen's College, Oxford](/source/The_Queen's_College%2C_Oxford) | occupation = Journalist, writer, radio broadcaster | spouse = {{plainlist| * {{marriage|Olwen Thomas|1948|end=div}} * {{marriage|Rosemary King|1968|end=div}} }} | children = 4 }} {{for multi|the Canadian film and television director|Alan Gibson (director)|the bishop|Alan Gibson (bishop)}} '''Norman Alan Stewart Gibson'''His obituary in ''The Independent'' gives his third name as "Stewart" as does IMDb, but both ''Wisden'' and Cricinfo give it as "Stanley". (28 May 1923 – 10 April 1997) was an English journalist, writer and radio broadcaster, best known for his work in connection with [cricket](/source/cricket), though he also sometimes covered [football](/source/Football_(soccer)) and [rugby union](/source/rugby_union). At various times Alan Gibson was also a university lecturer, poet, BBC radio producer, historian, Baptist lay preacher and [Liberal Party](/source/Liberal_Party_(UK)) parliamentary candidate. ==Life and career== Alan Gibson was born at [Sheffield](/source/Sheffield) in [Yorkshire](/source/Yorkshire), but the family moved to [Leyton](/source/Leyton), on the north-eastern outskirts of London, when he was seven,{{cite book |last1=Gibson |first1=Alan |title=A Mingled Yarn |date=1976 |publisher=Collins |location=London |isbn=000216115X |pages=22–24}} and subsequently to the [West Country](/source/West_Country), where he attended [Taunton School](/source/Taunton_School). Apart from his time at university, he spent all his subsequent life in that region, most of his cricket reporting being of [Somerset](/source/Somerset_CCC) and [Gloucestershire](/source/Gloucestershire_CCC) matches. After school he went to [Queen's College, Oxford](/source/The_Queen's_College%2C_Oxford), where he gained a First in history and was elected [President of the Oxford Union](/source/Presidents_of_the_Oxford_Union), though he never took office because of being called for [National Service](/source/Conscription_in_the_United_Kingdom). Gibson was a member of the [Liberal Party](/source/Liberal_Party_(UK)) and served as President of the [Falmouth and Camborne Liberal Association](/source/Falmouth_and_Camborne_(UK_Parliament_constituency)). He stood as parliamentary candidate for that constituency at the [1959 General election](/source/1959_United_Kingdom_general_election) but came third.The Times House of Commons, 1959 He was briefly a travelling lecturer with [University College, Exeter](/source/Exeter_University), before getting a job with the West Region of the [BBC Radio](/source/BBC_Radio) [Home Service](/source/Home_Service). That led him into cricket (and other sporting) commentary on matches in the region, though he did not do much of this until leaving the BBC staff and becoming a freelance. Eventually he graduated to national broadcasts, including appearances on ''[Test Match Special](/source/Test_Match_Special)'' from 1962 to 1975.Christopher Martin-Jenkins, ''Ball by Ball: The Story of Cricket Broadcasting'', 1990. He was a presenter of the [BBC West](/source/BBC_West) regional TV news magazine programme ''Westward Ho!'' during 1953. Between 1955 and 1966, with his fellow compere Derek Jones, he presented a Saturday morning radio programme for the West Region called ''Good Morning!'', interspersing popular music with unscripted chat between the presenters.Gibson, ''A Mingled Yarn'', pp. 129–47. He was the narrator for the short documentary film ''Falmouth for Orders'' in 1965 and for three episodes of the BBC TV natural history series ''[The World About Us](/source/The_World_About_Us)'' between 1968 and 1973.{{Cite web|title=Alan Gibson|url=http://www.imdb.com/name/nm4107286/bio|access-date=2020-10-15|website=IMDb}} He wrote on cricket at various times for ''[The Sunday Telegraph](/source/The_Sunday_Telegraph)'', ''[The Guardian](/source/The_Guardian)'', ''[The Spectator](/source/The_Spectator)'' and ''[The Cricketer](/source/The_Cricketer)''. From 1967 until 1986 he was a cricket reporter for ''[The Times](/source/The_Times)''. He also reported [rugby union](/source/rugby_union), in print and on radio. He appeared on the radio shows ''[Sunday Half Hour](/source/Sunday_Half_Hour)'' and ''[Round Britain Quiz](/source/Round_Britain_Quiz)''. In 1961 he briefly joined the recently launched [Westward Television](/source/Westward_Television) to present ''Westward Diary'' after "he had been involved in a disagreement with the West Region authorities of the BBC over a comment he is alleged to have made in a two-way records programme with Derek Jones"."Alan Gibson goes to commercial TV", ''Taunton Courier and Western Advertiser'', 9 September 1961 As a cricket commentator he was articulate and often drily humorous. On a Saturday afternoon sport programme, [Neil Durden-Smith](/source/Neil_Durden-Smith) once mentioned that he had been having tea with the Bishop of Leicester. On being cued in, Gibson began his commentary stint with: "No episcopal visitations here." His cricket writing for ''The Times'' was generally light-hearted, often concentrating more on his journey to the match (invariably by train, often changing at [Didcot](/source/Didcot), rarely straightforward) than on the cricket itself.[https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/obituary-alan-gibson-1267171.html Obituary published in ''The Independent''.] Retrieved 26 September 2009. In his pieces he coined the descriptions "the Sage of [Longparish](/source/Longparish)" for his colleague [John Woodcock](/source/John_Woodcock_(cricket_writer)), "the Demon of [Frome](/source/Frome)" for [Colin Dredge](/source/Colin_Dredge) of [Somerset](/source/Somerset_CCC), the Old Bald Blighter (the OBB) for [Brian Close](/source/Brian_Close) and "the [Shoreditch](/source/Shoreditch) Sparrow" for [Robin Jackman](/source/Robin_Jackman). Woodcock said concerning their reports for ''The Times'': "I write about the cricket, and Alan writes about 'A Day at the Cricket'."''Growing up with Cricket'', p174. In 1975 he was chosen to give the address at the memorial service for Sir [Neville Cardus](/source/Neville_Cardus), held at [St Paul's, Covent Garden](/source/St_Paul's%2C_Covent_Garden). This was printed in the following year's edition of ''[Wisden Cricketer's Almanack](/source/Wisden_Cricketer's_Almanack)''.[http://www.espncricinfo.com/wisdenalmanack/content/story/152557.html Sir Neville Cardus, A Tribute] Retrieved 15 Sep 2011 He was elected the first President of the [Cricket Writers' Club](/source/Cricket_Writers'_Club) in 1982.[http://www.cricketwritersclub.com/honoursboard.aspx Cricket Writers' Club presidency] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070312123737/http://www.cricketwritersclub.com/honoursboard.aspx |date=12 March 2007 }} Not a robust man, he had spells of depression, once spending some time in a psychiatric hospital. He also had a drink problem (which was the reason he was dropped from ''Test Match Special'')."Obituary", ''[Wisden](/source/Wisden_Cricketers'_Almanack)'' 1998, p. 1431–32. His reports for ''The Times'' often referred to his regular appearances at 'The Star' public house in [High Littleton](/source/High_Littleton), where he lived, and reports of matches involving [Gloucestershire](/source/Gloucestershire_CCC) invariably mentioned the GRIP – the Gloriously Red-headed Imperturbable Pamela, the barmaid in the main pavilion bar at the County Ground at Bristol. He married twice: to Olwen Thomas in 1948 and to Rosemary King in 1968. Both marriages produced two children and both ended in divorce. He died at [Taunton](/source/Taunton) in Somerset. ==Select bibliography== *''Jackson's Year: The Test Matches of 1905'', Sportsman Book Club, 1966. *''A Mingled Yarn'', Collins, 1976. {{ISBN|0-00-216115-X}} (Autobiography) *''Growing Up With Cricket - Some Memories of a Sporting Education'', George Allen & Unwin, 1985. {{ISBN|0-04-796099-X}} *''The Cricket Captains of England'', The Pavilion Library, 1989. {{ISBN|1-85145-390-3}} (A revised edition, the original being published in 1979.) *''West Country Treasury: A Compendium of Lore and Literature, People and Places'', Ex Libris Press, 1989, {{ISBN|0-948578-19-X}} (Co-authored with his son, Anthony Gibson) *''Of Didcot and the Demon: The Cricketing Times of Alan Gibson'', Fairfield Books, 2009, {{ISBN|978-0-9560702-5-8}} (Compiled by his son, Anthony Gibson) ==Notes== {{reflist}} ==References== *[http://content-uk.cricinfo.com/wisdenalmanack/content/story/228769.html Wisden obituary] *[http://content-uk.cricinfo.com/wisdenalmanack/content/story/228766.html Another Wisden piece] *[http://content-www.cricinfo.com/england/content/player/294157.html Cricinfo profile] *Gibson, Alan. ''Growing Up With Cricket - Some Memories of a Sporting Education'', George Allen & Unwin, 1985. {{ISBN|0-04-796099-X}} {{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Gibson, Alan}} Category:1923 births Category:1997 deaths Category:People educated at Taunton School Category:People with mood disorders Category:Alumni of the Queen's College, Oxford Category:English sports broadcasters Category:English cricket commentators Category:Cricket writers Category:Sportspeople from Sheffield Category:Presidents of the Oxford Union Category:The Times people Category:The Guardian journalists Category:English rugby union commentators Category:Military personnel from Sheffield Category:20th-century British military personnel Category:Liberal Party (UK) parliamentary candidates Category:20th-century English male journalists Category:20th-century English journalists --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Alan Gibson](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Gibson) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Gibson?action=history)). 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