Alan Saunders (broadcaster)
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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 Harringay (pronounced ) is a district of north London, England, within the London Borough of Haringey. It is centred on the section of Green Lanes running between the New River, where it crosses Green Lanes by Finsbury Park, and Duckett's ...
,
North London North London is the northern part of London, England, north of the River Thames. It extends from Clerkenwell and Finsbury, on the edge of the City of London financial district, to Greater London's boundary with Hertfordshire. The term ''nort ...
. 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 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 versed in gastr ...
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 , mottoeng = So that they may have life , established = , type = public research university , endowment = £20.0 million , budget = £326 million , chancellor = David Willetts , vice_chancellor = Nishan Canagarajah , head_labe ...
and a
Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...
from the
London School of Economics , mottoeng = To understand the causes of things , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £240.8 million (2021) , budget = £391.1 millio ...
, 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-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...
. In 1992, he was one of the first recipients of Australia’s
Pascall Prize The Pascall Prize for Arts Criticism, formerly known as the Pascall Prize and then the Walkley-Pascall Award or Walkley-Pascall Award for Arts Criticism, is one of two annual Walkley Arts Journalism prizes awarded by the Walkley Foundation. The ...
for Critical Writing and Broadcasting, and, in 2007, was awarded the Special Media Prize by the
Australasian Association of Philosophy The Australasian Association of Philosophy (AAP) is the peak body for philosophy in Australasia. The chief purpose of the AAP is to promote philosophy in Australia, New Zealand, and Singapore. Among the means that it follows to achieve this end, ...
. He gained his PhD from the
Australian National University The Australian National University (ANU) is a public research university located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton encompasses seven teaching and research colleges, in addition to several national academies and ...
, with a dissertation on the 18th-century English philosopher
Joseph Priestley Joseph Priestley (; 24 March 1733 – 6 February 1804) was an English chemist, natural philosopher, separatist theologian, grammarian, multi-subject educator, and liberal political theorist. He published over 150 works, and conducted exp ...
.


Media career and writing

After a period of freelance work for the
Australian Broadcasting Corporation The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is the national broadcaster of Australia. It is principally funded by direct grants from the Australian Government and is administered by a government-appointed board. The ABC is a publicly-own ...
while still based in London, Saunders moved to
Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...
and joined
Radio National Radio National, known on-air as RN, is an Australia-wide public service broadcasting radio network run by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). From 1947 until 1985, the network was known as ABC Radio 2. History 1937: Predecessors an ...
in 1987. During his career he presented ''The Food Program'', ''Screen'', ''The Comfort Zone'', ''By Design'' and ''
The Philosopher's Zone ''The Philosopher's Zone'' is a weekly ABC Radio National radio discussion series exploring philosophical Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, know ...
''. He was a regular and occasional columnist for media outlets such as ''
The Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily compact newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and owned by Nine. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper ...
'', '' The Bulletin'', ''
Australian Financial Review ''The Australian Financial Review'' (abbreviated to the ''AFR'') is an Australian business-focused, compact daily newspaper covering the current business and economic affairs of Australia and the world. The newspaper is based in Sydney, New Sou ...
'', ''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 i ...
''. 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 Musa ibn Maimon (1138–1204), commonly known as Maimonides (); la, Moses Maimonides and also referred to by the acronym Rambam ( he, רמב״ם), was a Sephardic Jewish philosopher who became one of the most prolific and influential Torah ...
, 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, businesswoman, singer, and socialite. She voiced Duchess and Miss Bianca in the animated Disney Classics, ''The Aristocats'' (1970), ''The Rescuers'' (1977), ...
's neighbor's pet pig in the 1960s sitcom, ''
Green Acres ''Green Acres'' is an American television 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 broadcast on ...
''". 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, eastern suburb 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 City of Sydney. I ...
. 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
Radio National Radio National, known on-air as RN, is an Australia-wide public service broadcasting radio network run by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). From 1947 until 1985, the network was known as ABC Radio 2. History 1937: Predecessors an ...
, 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'' {{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 English emigrants to Australia 20th-century British philosophers 21st-century Australian philosophers Philosophy journalists People from Harringay