Graham Lawrence Knight (17 February 1949 – 3 September 2009) was a British broadcaster, journalist and author.

Personal life

Knight was born in Sorrento,

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

, England. He died in

Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east ...

, England, survived by two children, Matthew and Paul and his wife Cherry. He was an avid collector of autographed books, many of whom were of authors he'd interviewed. He also collected spectacles. In 1977, he joined the Nottingham Sports Car Club and was a commentator for their September Donington Park race meeting. He also sprinted a Mini at Curborough.

Career

Cadbury's

Before moving into journalism, Knight worked in the packaging team at Cadbury's in Bournville, where he met his wife.

Radio

Hospital Radio

Graham started his career in broadcasting by volunteering on hospital radio in Birmingham, and went on to work at the local commercial station

BRMB Free Radio Birmingham is an Independent Local Radio station based in Birmingham, England, owned and operated by Bauer as part of the Hits Radio network. It broadcasts to Birmingham and the West Midlands. As of September 2022, the station has a ...

Radio Trent

After moving to Nottingham in the mid-1970s, Graham was one of the founder DJs on Nottingham's Radio Trent as it launched in July 1975, where he presented the Phone-in Show, 'Trent Talkback'. Other DJs included John Peters,

Jeff Cooper John Dean "Jeff" Cooper (May 10, 1920 – September 25, 2006) was a United States Marine, the creator of a "modern technique" of handgun shooting, and an expert on the use and history of small arms. Early life and education Cooper was ...

, Kid Jensen and Guy Morris. Graham also had semi regular shows on the English speaking Austrian station

Blue Danube Radio Blue Danube Radio (BDR) was an English-language radio station broadcast by the Österreichischer Rundfunk ( en, Austrian Broadcasting; ORF). History Blue Danube Radio went live on 23 August 1979, created principally for the United Nations commu ...

, as had his colleague at Trent, Dale Winton.

BBC Radio Derby

Graham joined BBC Radio Derby in 1983 and presented the mid-morning show for 14 years.

BBC Radio 2

Graham presented the Weekend Early Breakfast show on

BBC Radio 2 BBC Radio 2 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It is the most popular station in the United Kingdom with over 15 million weekly listeners. Since launching in 1967, the station broadcasts a wide range of content. ...

for four years between 1988 and 1992.

Retail

From 2002 to his death, Graham owned and ran a specialist

Tea Tea is an aromatic beverage prepared by pouring hot or boiling water over cured or fresh leaves of '' Camellia sinensis'', an evergreen shrub native to East Asia which probably originated in the borderlands of southwestern China and northe ...

Coffee Coffee is a drink prepared from roasted coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulant, stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content. It is the most popular hot drink in the world. S ...

and

Chocolate Chocolate is a food made from roasted and ground cacao seed kernels that is available as a liquid, solid, or paste, either on its own or as a flavoring agent in other foods. Cacao has been consumed in some form since at least the Olmec civ ...

shop in

Sherwood Sherwood may refer to: Places Australia *Sherwood, Queensland, a suburb of Brisbane *Sherwood, South Australia, a locality *Shire of Sherwood, a former local government area of Queensland *Electoral district of Sherwood, an electoral district from ...

called 'General Store', selling a range of packed and loose teas and coffees, including his own blends, and unique imports such as 'Georgian Old Lady' and 'Georgian Old Gentleman'.

Other organisations

Graham had been a regional board member of the National Trust, and played a critical part in setting up the Derwent Valley Trust during its creation of the National Heritage Corridor in Derbyshire between 2001 and 2007 whilst studying for an MA in Conservation Management. He also helped establish a journalism section on the Amnesty International website and co-wrote the book Outings in the Peak District with Lindsay Porter.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Knight, Graham 1949 births 2009 deaths People from Birmingham, West Midlands BBC Radio 2 presenters British radio DJs