DAVID Stephen, naturalist, author, photographer, and journalist died
yesterday, aged 78.
Considered to be one of Scotland's finest naturalists, he had the
single-mindedness of the self-taught expert, whether championing the
reviled wolf or inveighing against lairds whose idea of conservation was
the indiscriminate use of poison.
David Stephen was born in Airdrie. As a boy he escaped to the
countryside and discovered in himself an affinity for the natural world.
The first part of his working life was spent as a Poor Law officer
but he turned to full-time journalism after the Second World War,
first with the Daily Record, where he popularised nature to an extent
never seen before. He then wrote for The Scotsman, contributing a
column, The World Outside, for 33 years. His writings were often blunt
and sometimes angry. He was realistic enough about mankind to be
pessimistic about the future of the animal kingdom. Many of the
creatures he wrote about became familiar to those who visited Palacerigg
Country Park at Cumbernauld, which opened under his directorship in
1974.
Palacerigg and his writings are David Stephen's monuments. At the
country park he gave animals space to live and breed; in books and
journalism he shared a lifetime's lore with generations of
animal-lovers. He detested gin traps, factory farming, the ''sportsmen''
of the hunting fraternity and muddled thinking.
The Herald's deputy editor, Mr Harry Reid, who had a close
journalistic relationship with Stephen over several years, said of his
books yesterday: ''They are valuable not just for his wonderful empathy
with animals but also for their superb descriptions of the Scottish
landscape.
''David Stephen evoked the physical splendour of the Scottish country,
in all seasons and weathers, better than any writer since John Buchan.''
Mr Stephen is survived by his wife, a son, and a daughter.
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