Christopher Helm

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Christopher Alexander Roger Helm (born February 1, 1937 in Dundee , Scotland , † January 20, 2007 in Hastings , East Sussex ) was a Scottish publisher and ornithologist .

Life

Helm was the son of a Presbyterian minister and lived in Forfar for the first two years of his life . In 1939 the family moved to Royal Tunbridge Wells , England , where his father continued to preach in the Scottish diaspora . In 1960 gained the helmet BA in Literae Humaniores (classic classical studies) and in the Law on Gonville and Caius College of the University of Cambridge . He began a career in advertising and publishing and joined Macmillan Publishers as an editor while pursuing his political interests. In 1970 he was run as a Labor candidate in the Tory stronghold of Wokingham in Berkshire and lost the election. However, he was still involved in the Labor Party and was active as a councilor in the London borough of Wandsworth in the 1970s . In 1972 Helm left Macmillan and founded the independent academic publisher Croom Helm with his partner David Croom . The concept was to commission a wide range of scientific books from young scientists, to publish them quickly and to market them internationally. Croom was the prolific editor and Helm the marketer. The concept worked due to the short release time and the wide export distribution network that Helm was building.

In 1982 Helm received a postgraduate diploma in management from Harvard Business School .

In 1983 Helm's lifelong interest in birds led to the publication of Peter Harrison's book Seabirds of the World . This work is considered the first comprehensive field guide for a whole group of birds and made the Helm Identification Guides series popular. 1986 Helm sold the publishing house Croom Helm to Routledge and founded his own publishing house Christopher Helm Publishers. In addition to ornithological literature, garden literature was also published. In 1990 the Helm label became part of A & C Black , which has been part of Bloomsbury Publishing since 2000 .

In 2001 Helm published the standard work Raptors of the World by James Ferguson-Lees and David A. Christie , which was commissioned in 1983.

In 1994 he and Nigel Redman founded the Pica Press label in their Sussex home , which was also bought by A&C Black in 2000 and directed by Redman. In the meantime, Helm pursued his ornithological interests by doing bird counts and attending ornithological conferences. From 1991 to 1999 he was an active member of the governing body of the British Ornithologists' Union, and from 1995 to 1999 he was Vice President. He was also a member of the African Bird Club, the Ornithological Society of the Middle East and the Oriental Bird Club.

Helm was married twice: from 1967 to 1976 to Caroline Price. This marriage resulted in two sons, one of whom died of cystic fibrosis . In 1979 he married Amanda Thomas, with whom he had a daughter and another son.

literature

personal data
SURNAME Helm, Christopher
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Helm, Christopher Alexander Roger (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Scottish ornithologist and publisher
DATE OF BIRTH February 1, 1937
PLACE OF BIRTH Dundee , Scotland
DATE OF DEATH January 20, 2007
Place of death Hastings , East Sussex