Norman Thomas (1947 or 1948 – May 2011) was a British broadcaster, businessman and journalist. As one of the founding members of

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

's Radio City he became a well established radio personality in the north west region.

Life and career

Thomas was born in

St Helens, Lancashire St Helens () is a town in Merseyside, England, with a population of 117,308. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of St Helens which had a population of 183,200 at the United Kingdom Census 2021, 2021 Census. The town i ...

and worked as a schoolteacher at a school in

Dingle Dingle ( or ''Daingean Uí Chúis'', meaning "fort of Ó Cúis") is a town in County Kerry in the south-west of Ireland. The only town on the Dingle Peninsula (known in Irish as ''Corca Dhuibhne''), it sits on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coa ...

area before moving into broadcasting in the mid-1970s. His career as a radio presenter began in 1974 with the launch of Radio City in Liverpool when he joined the station as part of its original line-up. He quickly became a popular personality in the area and developed a huge following during his time at the station, becoming affectionately known as "Little NT" and "Uncle Norm". From 1978 to 1986 he presented Radio City's breakfast show. However, he later moved on from Radio City, working for

BBC Radio Merseyside BBC Radio Merseyside is the BBC's local radio station serving Merseyside, North and West Cheshire and West Lancashire. It broadcasts on FM, DAB, digital TV and via BBC Sounds, from studios on Hanover Street in Liverpool. According to RAJAR, t ...

and

BBC Radio Lancashire BBC Radio Lancashire is the BBC's local radio station serving the county of Lancashire. Originally launched as BBC Radio Blackburn, in 1981 it expanded to cover the whole county and was renamed BBC Radio Lancashire. It broadcasts on FM, DAB ...

, and for a time he also presented a syndicated programme across the north west region. He later made a brief return to Radio City, and also presented on Lancashire's

Red Rose Radio Red Rose Radio was an Independent Local Radio station serving Preston, Blackpool and surrounding areas in Lancashire, England. Launched in 1982 from studios in Preston, it evolved into two stations on FM and AM, underwent several rebrandings, and ...

. Away from broadcasting Thomas ran several businesses, including a travel agents, and during the 1980s was a columnist with the ''

Liverpool Echo The ''Liverpool Echo'' is a newspaper published by Trinity Mirror North West & North Wales – a subsidiary company of Reach plc and is based in St. Paul's Square, Liverpool, England. It is published Monday through Sunday, and is Liverpool's da ...

''. In 1990 Thomas and his family survived a gas explosion at their home in

Bickerstaffe Bickerstaffe is a village and civil parish in the West Lancashire district of Lancashire, England. According to the 2001 Census the population of the civil parish was 1,196, reducing to 1,180 at the 2011 census, although the population of th ...

, near

Ormskirk Ormskirk is a market town in the West Lancashire district of Lancashire, England. It is located north of Liverpool, northwest of St Helens, Merseyside, St Helens, southeast of Southport and southwest of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. Ormski ...

, Lancs. Thomas used heavy lifting gear to free his son from the rubble, and was one of five people treated at hospital following the blast.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, Norman 1940s births 2011 deaths British broadcasters People from St Helens, Merseyside People from Bickerstaffe