Alan John Saunders (22 July 1954 – 15 June 2012) was a prominent British philosopher, food writer, novelist and radio broadcaster in Australia.

Early life and academic career

Saunders was born in London and raised in Harringay,

North London North London is the northern part of London, England, north of the River Thames and the City of London. It extends from Clerkenwell and Finsbury, on the edge of the City of London financial district, to Greater London's boundary with Hertfordshi ...

. His father, Sydney Saunders, was a taxi driver and his mother, Edith, was a secretary in a school. Saunders' interest in

gastronomy Gastronomy is the study of the relationship between Human food, food and culture, the art of preparing and serving rich or delicate and appetizing food, the cooking styles of particular regions, and the science of good eating. One who is well ver ...

initially came about through childhood holidays abroad with his parents, who were adventurous eaters. He gained a Bachelor of Arts in philosophy at the

University of Leicester The University of Leicester ( ) is a public university, public research university based in Leicester, England. The main campus is south of the city centre, adjacent to Victoria Park, Leicester, Victoria Park. The university's predecessor, Univ ...

and a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...

from the

London School of Economics The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), established in 1895, is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the University of London. The school specialises in the social sciences. Founded ...

, and was a Frances A. Yates Research Fellow at the

Warburg Institute The Warburg Institute is a research institution associated with the University of London in central London, England. A member of the School of Advanced Study, its focus is the study of cultural history and the role of images in culture – cros ...

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

. In 1992, he was one of the first recipients of Australia’s Pascall Prize for Critical Writing and Broadcasting, and, in 2007, was awarded the Special Media Prize by the Australasian Association of Philosophy. He gained his PhD from the

Australian National University The Australian National University (ANU) is a public university, public research university and member of the Group of Eight (Australian universities), Group of Eight, located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton, A ...

, with a dissertation on the 18th-century English philosopher

Joseph Priestley Joseph Priestley (; 24 March 1733 – 6 February 1804) was an English chemist, Unitarian, Natural philosophy, natural philosopher, English Separatist, separatist theologian, Linguist, grammarian, multi-subject educator and Classical libera ...

Media career and writing

After a period of freelance work for the

Australian Broadcasting Corporation The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is Australia’s principal public service broadcaster. It is funded primarily by grants from the federal government and is administered by a government-appointed board of directors. The ABC is ...

while still based in London, Saunders moved to

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

and joined

Radio National ABC Radio National, more commonly known as Radio National or simply RN, is an Australian nationwide public service radio network run by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). From 1947 until 1985, the network was known as ABC Radio 2. ...

in 1987. During his career he presented ''The Food Program'', ''Screen'', ''The Comfort Zone'', ''By Design'' and '' The Philosopher's Zone''. He was a regular and occasional columnist for media outlets such as ''

The Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published in Sydney, Australia, and owned by Nine Entertainment. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuous ...

'', '' The Bulletin'', ''

Australian Financial Review The ''Australian Financial Review'' (''AFR'') is an Australian compact daily newspaper with a focus on business, politics and economic affairs. The newspaper is based in Sydney, New South Wales, and has been published continuously since its foun ...

'', ''Food Australia'', ''Delicious Magazine'' and ''

The Times Literary Supplement ''The Times Literary Supplement'' (''TLS'') is a weekly literary review published in London by News UK, a subsidiary of News Corp. History The ''TLS'' first appeared in 1902 as a supplement to ''The Times'' but became a separate publication ...

''. He was also "the critic" on the ABC TV series '' The Chopping Block''. Saunders was the author of ''A is for Apple'' (William Heinemann 1995), a collection of essays loosely revolving around food. Writing about the book for ''The Australian Financial Review'', the journalist Maria Trefely-Deutch praised Saunders for his "very real appreciation of popular culture. In discussing prohibitions against eating pigs, only Saunders can jump from Rabbi Moses

Maimonides Moses ben Maimon (1138–1204), commonly known as Maimonides (, ) and also referred to by the Hebrew acronym Rambam (), was a Sephardic rabbi and Jewish philosophy, philosopher who became one of the most prolific and influential Torah schola ...

, the great Jewish philosopher of the Middle Ages to Arnold,

Eva Gabor Eva Gabor ( ; February 11, 1919 – July 4, 1995) was a Hungarian-American actress and socialite. Gabor voiced Duchess and Miss Bianca in the Disney animations ''The Aristocats'' (1970), ''The Rescuers'' (1977), and ''The Rescuers Down Under'' ...

's neighbor's pet pig in the 1960s sitcom, ''

Green Acres ''Green Acres'' is an American television absurdist sitcom starring Eddie Albert and Eva Gabor as a couple who move from New York City to a country farm. Produced by Filmways as a sister show to ''Petticoat Junction'', the series was first br ...

''". His satirical novel, ''Alanna'' (Penguin 2002), was described by the critic Peter Pierce in ''The Sydney Morning Heralds books pages as "sportive and engaging, fast paced and unsparing of its targets. Saunders not only mocks the pretensions of the Australian literary world, but the wider community that is content to be deluded, to consume ersatz spirituality where and however it is peddled, to embrace the author as much as the book."

Death and tributes

In June 2012, Saunders contracted a viral infection which developed into pneumonia. On 14 June, he was taken by ambulance from the ABC Studios, where he was recording his program ''The Philosopher's Zone'', to St Vincent's Hospital in

Darlinghurst Darlinghurst is an inner-city suburb in the eastern suburbs of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Darlinghurst is located immediately east of the Sydney central business district (CBD) and Hyde Park, within the local government area of the Ci ...

. He died there the following day. A retrospective edition of ''The Philosopher's Zone'' entitled "Tribute to the philosophical Alan Saunders" was broadcast on Radio National on 24 June 2012. ''

The Age ''The Age'' is a daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, that has been published since 1854. Owned and published by Nine Entertainment, ''The Age'' primarily serves Victoria (Australia), Victoria, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Austral ...

'' published an online obituary on 26 June 2012.

Bibliography

*Saunders, Alan
A Portrait of Sir Karl Popper
''The Science Show'', ABC

, 15 January 2000 (accessed 27 December 2007). *Saunders, Alan, "The State as highwayman: from candour to rights", in ''Enlightenment and Religion: Rational Dissent in Eighteenth-Century Britain'', ed. Knud Haakonssen, Cambridge University Press, 1996, ,

References

External links

*
Alan Saunders Tribute Page
''Facebook''
The Philosopher's Zone podcast by Alan Saunders
Episodes 2005 - 2012, which aren't shown on the program's webpage anymore, ''Bluesky'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Saunders, Alan Australian radio personalities Alumni of the London School of Economics Alumni of the University of Leicester Australian National University alumni 1954 births 2012 deaths Deaths from pneumonia in New South Wales British emigrants to Australia 20th-century British philosophers 21st-century Australian philosophers Philosophy journalists People from Harringay