Mike Soper
Michael Henry Ray Soper (born September 30, 1913 in Epping , Essex ; † October 26, 2008 ) was a university lecturer in agricultural science and an author from England .
Life
Soper grew up in London with two sisters and a brother . His father bought a holiday home in Rock, Cornwall in 1919 and the family moved there in 1926. From 1927 to 1932 Soper attended the Tonbridge School . After his school education he studied and after completing his studies got a job as a university teacher in Oxford . During the Second World War he was a member of the WarAg Committee . As a professor of agricultural sciences at Christ Church College, Oxford University , Soper taught from 1946 until his retirement in 1981 and ran the university farm for 30 years. He played a leading role in the development of part-time agricultural education. He later retired to a retirement home in the British town of Moulsford .
In the book Farming and the Countryside he illuminates the path of agriculture between efficient agriculture, yield pressure on the soil, relaxation for 57 million Britons, conservation of natural resources and landscape conservation.
In Years of Change he looks back on his life for agriculture from 1934 to 1995 and from working as a farmer to teaching at university.
In memory of his services, a Mike Soper Bursary Fund was set up at Oxford University . The purpose of the scholarship fund is to enable biology students, especially those in agriculture and forestry, to deepen their studies outside of Oxford in a scientific, economic or practical context.
In 1963 he was awarded the Order of Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) . In January 2006 he was honored by Anne Mountbatten-Windsor, Princess Royal at the sixtieth Oxford Farming Conference for his 25 years as secretary, making him the longest in office to date. He was also one of a maximum of 50 honorary members ( Honorary Fellowship ) of the Royal Agricultural Society of England and an honorary member of the City and Guilds of London Institute .
From 1955 to 1957 he was the captain of St. Enodoc Golf Club in Trebetherick and in the 1960s he represented Cornwall on the English Golf Union Council for ten years .
Soper was never married, remained childless and lived in a secret and loving relationship with a man for more than 40 years . He used to have to be very discreet and took some risks as he could have been brought to justice and lost his job . As an undergraduate , he thought he was the only gay person in the world. According to his statements, Soper lived in secrecy and it was difficult for him to cope with it. When the roommates in the old people's home heard in 2005 that he was writing a book and said they wanted to read it, he came out to them for the first time at the age of 91. His family also found out about it for the first time, even if it came as no great surprise to his nieces and nephews . They were very understanding, supportive, and it was a relief for him to be honest about his sexuality after such a long time . In 2007, he finally published his novel The Heart Entrapped ( The Captive Heart ) whose story begins in the 1960s and is based on his life story. As a reason for his writing activity, he stated that he just wanted to try. He also wanted to give a different view of gay life - that of a long-lasting loving relationship - as opposed to the image in the media, where, in his opinion, it is portrayed as a community that only thinks about sex .
In the novel, he describes the young Mark, who goes to college for the first year , is popular with his friends, is good at sports and has the opportunity to take over his parents' farm later. He experiences the joys of first love. His love is a man, and that at a time when homosexuality is not accepted . The timeframe spans from the 1960s to the present day and the novel covers universal themes such as love, friendship and family relationships.
Soper died on October 26, 2008 at the age of 95.
Works
- British Agriculture Today , Assn. of Agriculture, 1978, ISBN 0-903313-32-4
- British Cereals: Wheat, Barley and Oats , Assn. of Agriculture, 1979, ISBN 0-903313-33-2
- Grassland , Assn. of Agriculture, 1982, ISBN 0-903313-43-X
- Dairy Farming and Milk Production , Assn. of Agriculture, 1983, ISBN 0-903313-44-8
- with E. Carter: Modern Farming and the Countryside: The Issues in Perspective , Assn. of Agriculture, 1985, ISBN 0-903313-45-6
- with E. Carter: Farming and the Countryside , Farming Press Books and Videos, 1991, ISBN 0-85236-225-0
- Years of Change , Farming Press Books and Videos, 1995, ISBN 0-85236-313-3
- The Heart Entrapped , Athena Press, 2007, ISBN 1-84748-108-6
Individual evidence
- ^ A b Mike Soper: organizer of the Oxford Farming Conference. In: The Times . December 4, 2008, accessed March 3, 2011 .
- ↑ a b c d e Michael Soper: Recollections of Rock and St. Enodoc , St. Enodoc Golf Club Magazine 3-06 / 07, pp. 7-10, (currently online) ( Memento of the original from October 15, 2007 on the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Annual Review of the Tonbridge School Foundation 2006-2007 ( Memento of the original from October 18, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Tonbridge School Foundation Office, January 2007, p. 16
- ↑ ox.ac.uk: Statute: Approval of new University Statutes - Schedule - Part 55: Mike Soper Bursary Fund ( Memento of the original from September 1, 2006 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 1.3 MB), Oxford University Gazette - Supplement (1) to No. 4601, November 7, 2001, p. 63
- ^ Andy Dangerfield: Mike's royal reward , andydangerfield.blogspot.com, January 15, 2006
- ↑ The Royal Agricultural Society of England ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society of England, Volume 164 2003, ISSN 0080-4134
- ↑ The Royal Agricultural Society of England ( Memento of the original from May 8, 2005 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society of England, Volume 165 2004, ISSN 0080-4134
- ↑ Chris Kearney: Mike pens gay romance at 93 , Oxford Mail, October 15, 2007
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Soper, Mike |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Soper, Michael Henry Ray |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | British author and university professor |
| DATE OF BIRTH | September 30, 1913 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Epping |
| DATE OF DEATH | October 26, 2008 |