Gilbert Dempster Fisher was a Scottish broadcaster, writer and naturalist who achieved prominence on BBC Scottish Radio as a naturalist under the persona of 'the Hut Man'.
Life
Gilbert D. Fisher was born on 18 August 1906 at Bishopton, Renfrewshire. His father was William Duncan Fisher, an accountant, and his mother Mary McEwan Dempster. In 1940, he married Ella Veitch Shaw in Edinburgh and they had a son named Jeremy. He died on 11 July 1985 at his home at North Berwick, East Lothian.
Career
After school Fisher entered the business world and after ten years in business he retired to devote himself to nature studies. He was elected member of the British Ornithologists' Union in 1936. Around that year, he settled down in a hut in the moors north of the village of Lochwinnoch in Renfrewshire. He published The Hut Man's Book in 1938, and it was re-published as a Puffin Story Book in 1950. During the 1939–45 war, he apparently joined the Royal Air Force. According to the London Gazette, on 11 September 1941, he was promoted from Acting Flying Officer to Flying Officer on probation. His radio broadcasts under the persona of the Hut Man began on the BBC Home Service in Scotland on Monday 12 January 1948 at 5.25pm. The programme on Children's Hour was called 'Hut-Country Walks' and it featured two children exploring the Hut Country with the Hut Man. It was later called 'Exploring the Hut Country' and was broadcast every month or so. This 'Hut Country' programme was very popular and he used his celebrity status to pioneer nature studies in Scottish schools. The last 'Exploring the Hut Country' programme was broadcast on 19 June 1956 at 5pm. Fisher's broadcast career ended in 1956 when he was appointed director-secretary of the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland. He was effectively in charge of Edinburgh Zoo until he retired in 1971.
Publications
A Number of Things: Verses for children. Drawn and decorated by E. V. Shaw. Edinburgh & London: Moray Press, 1935.
The Hut Man's Book, Illustrated by E. V. Shaw, Hardback – Edinburgh & London: W. & R. Chambers, 1938. Paperback – Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, 1950
Adventure in the Hut Country, Illustrated by E. V. Shaw, Edinburgh: W. & R. Chambers, 1939
Hut Country Days. Scraperboard drawings by James Lucas. London: Sylvan Press, 1948.
Your Nature Book. London: Sylvan Press: London, 1949.
Exploring the Hut Country. Edinburgh & London: W. & R. Chambers, 1952
Children's Book of British Birds , Edinburgh & London: W. & R. Chambers, 1952.
The Teacher's Book of Nature Study. With three lessons on the sea-shore written and illustrated by John Smyth. Edinburgh & London: W. & R. Chambers, 1958
