Background and Education
Mark Cocker was brought up and educated in Buxton, Derbyshire, the gateway to the Peak District National Park. This early access to the spectacular limestone flora of the Derbyshire Dales and the specialised upland birds of the Dark Peak, provided formative experiences in his evolution as a naturalist.
He studied English Literature at the University of East Anglia (1978–1982), where he became immersed in East Anglia’s nationally important wildlife landscapes, including the North Norfolk coast, Breckland and the Broads. These became the inspiration for the vast majority of 900+ articles on wildlife, published in national and regional newspapers.
An active environmentalist, Cocker worked for the RSPB (1985), English Nature (now Natural England 1985-6) and BirdLife International (1988-9). In 1998 he received a Winston Churchill Travel Fellowship to explore the cultural importance of birds in West Africa (Benin and Cameroon).
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“I had many problems in my conduct of the office being contrasted with President Kennedy’s conduct in the office, with my manner of dealing with things and his manner, with my accent and his accent, with my background and his background. He was a great public hero, and anything I did that someone didn’t approve of, they would always feel that President Kennedy wouldn’t have done that.”
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