Forum for former BBC staff

Forum for former BBC staff
http://www.ex-bbc.net/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl >> Notices, obituaries and tributes >> Mike Black - Transcription Recording Unit http://www.ex-bbc.net/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl?num=1609107135 Message started by TomT on Dec 27^th, 2020, 10:13pm

Title: Mike Black - Transcription Recording Unit
Post by TomT on Dec 27^th, 2020, 10:13pm

Mike died on 5 December in the Royal Infirmary Edinburgh after a short hospital stay.
Michael Alan Black was born in Edinburgh 10 April 1943 and brought up by his mother as he rarely saw his father who was away at war. At school he enjoyed athletics and was an accomplished cross-country runner. After school he went to Edinburgh University to study Law however this wasn’t to be his future. He went to Leith Nautical College where he studied Radio Telegraphy and qualified as a Marconi Wireless Operator. This in turn lead him in 1965 to become a radio operator in the Merchant Navy where apart from using his Morse code he acted as a radar technician.
Then after 5 years another change in direction followed when in January 1970 he joined the BBC. On completion of his course in Evesham (TA 35) he joined the Transcription Recording Unit at Kensington House the following May. Here Mike enjoyed the variety of the work where he could be in the studio recording a session with the likes of Cat Stevens or working on prestige dramas such as “The Pilgrims Progress” with Sir John Gielgud (1978). Mike especially enjoyed working on outside broadcasts at the various music festivals around the UK such as Bath, Aldeburgh, Cheltenham and Edinburgh where he worked with some of the most notable musicians of the day including one of his favourites, Dame Janet Baker. While still in his early 40s he had just finished recording at the Bath music festival and was due to travel to Aldeburgh. When he didn’t turn up at the festival everyone was quite concerned, it took a while to ascertain that he had suffered a stroke and had lost his memory. Eventually returning to work he was retrained but not knowing who he was, let alone not recognising his colleagues was traumatic and the fact that his workmates knew more about him than he did himself meant he was never really settled as the old Mike that we knew.
Despite the obvious setbacks he rebuilt his career as an operational engineer and once again enjoyed his music and photography. He was thoughtful and generous and not having a family of his own sponsored three young people to become doctors, even offering accommodation in his own home while they did their medical training.
He retired from the BBC in 1994 and spent his time travelling including trips to India. In 2000, missing his homeland, he moved back to Scotland and found a house in Glasgow so that he could support his mother. He never really settled in Glasgow and while on a trip to through Midlothian saw a house in the village of Cousland which he bought and moved into.
In 2006 Mike was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, however this didn’t prevent him from travelling. He had made friends in the village and shared photographs he had taken in the area, mainly wildlife and portraits. He always valued his own space and kept active walking and working in his garden. He was taken to hospital only a few days before he passed away.
Mike had a full and varied life and felt privileged to share working moments with some of his favourite performers. He is missed by his many friends and former colleagues.
His funeral was held on the 16th December 2020 this is available to view online for a short period till 25th January 2021 https://www.obitus.com/ Username: Qota7309 Password: 596797