Ray Mears (author) 1195841 226155890 2008-07-17T02:00:43Z 145.116.232.254 rv edits by [[User:82.38.92.206|82.38.92.206]] to last version by [[User:Gunsnroses15|Gunsnroses15]] {{redir|Ray Mears}} {{Infobox Person | name = Ray Mears | image = | caption = | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1964|2|7}} | birth_place = | death_date = | death_place = | other_names = | known_for = [[Bushcraft]] and [[survival techniques]] | occupation = [[Television presenter]] and [[author]] | nationality = [[United Kingdom|British]] | employer = | spouse = | children = }} '''Raymond "Ray" Mears''' (born [[7 February]] [[1964]]) is a [[United Kingdom|British]] [[author]] and [[TV presenter]] on the subject of [[bushcraft]] and [[survival techniques]]. ==Biography== Ray Mears grew up in Southern England on the [[North Downs]], where he discovered a countryside abundant with wildlife. He learned to track foxes in the forest at a young age. As a boy, he desired to sleep out on the trail, but unable to afford camping equipment, he resorted to setting up camp using what he could find in his surroundings. His enthusiasm for his subject, combined with his broad knowledge of survival and the uses which may be made of [[plants]], [[trees]] and other [[natural materials]] found in [[woodland]], [[forest]] or [[desert]], have made him a popular figure in TV broadcasting in the UK and endeared him to various generations of lovers of the outdoors. He has travelled extensively across the world for his various TV series and is always willing to learn survival techniques from [[indigenous peoples]] he meets. His knowledge of the wild and his ability to teach others how to find food from [[seeds]], [[berries]], [[roots]] and other growing things, and to survive by constructing temporary shelters, fires and even making [[canoes]] (all from natural materials), have earned his programmes a wide viewing public and, in the eyes of some, elevated Mears to almost cult status. He is particularly interested in the survival of groups of [[Resistance movement|Resistance fighters]] and [[partisans]] for extended periods during [[World War II]], such as the [[Norway|Norwegian]] [[Telemark]] heroes (see ''The Real Heroes of [[Telemark]]'') and the [[Bielski partisans|Bielski Brothers]] in [[Belarus]] (see ''Extreme Survival''). In a 2006 TV tribute to fellow [[BBC]] [[Presenter|broadcaster]] [[David Attenborough]], Ray Mears confessed that much of his passion for his subject was fostered by Attenborough's [[nature documentary|nature documentaries]]. Mears founded [http://www.raymears.com/ Woodlore], School of Wilderness Bushcraft, in 1983. The company, which will be celebrating its 25th anniversary in 2008, has since expanded to running UK and overseas courses on the subject of Bushcraft, as well as stocking [[outdoor equipment]] and clothing in their online shop. Mears' ''The Survival Handbook'' was published in 1990, and his first TV appearance was in 1993 in the [[BBC Two]] series ''Tracks''. In ''Wild Food'', Mears worked alongside the [[University College of London]]'s Professor of [[Archaeobotany]], [[Gordon Hillman]]. In September 2007, he was awarded an honorary doctorate from [[Oxford Brookes University]], and later the same year he gave a series of public lectures across the UK on his experiences in front of and behind the lens. Mears' latest television and writing project is a four-part series set in the [[Australian outback]] called ''Ray Mears Goes Walkabout''. The television series was being broadcast on [[BBC Two]] in June 2008<ref>[http://www.woundedbuffalo.co.uk/work.php Ray Mears Goes Walkabout at Wounded Buffalo Productions]</ref>, with an accompanying hardcover book published in the UK by Hodder and Stoughton in March 2008. == TV programmes == '''Series:'''<br> * ''Wild Tracks'' - BBC (1994) * ''Tracks'' - BBC (1994 - 1997) * ''Ray Mears' World of Survival'' - BBC and Discovery Civilization Channel (1997 - 2002, 2 seasons with 6 episodes) * ''Country Tracks'' - BBC (1998) * ''The Essential Guide to Rocks'' - BBC Education (1998) * ''Ray Mears' Extreme Survival'' - BBC (1999 - 2002, 3 seasons with 6 episodes) * ''Ray Mears' Adventure Special'' - BBC (2001) Ray Mears takes Ewan McGregor into the Honduran jungle on the trail of the Prehistoric People of the Mosquito Coast. * ''Ray Mears' Country Tracks'' - BBC (2002 - 2003) * ''Ray Mears' Real Heroes of [[Telemark]]'' - BBC (2003) * ''Ray Mears' Bushcraft'' - BBC (2004 - 2005, 2 seasons with 5 episodes) * ''Ray Mears' Wild Food'' - BBC (2007) * ''Ray Mears Goes Walkabout'' - BBC (2008)<ref>{{cite web |url=http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/books/non-fiction/article3814871.ece |title=Ray Mears discusses bushcraft and his new book about the Australian outback |publisher=The Times}}</ref> <br> '''Guest Appearances:'''<br> * ''[[Blue Peter]]'' - BBC (03/03/2004, 03/11/2004) * ''Trips Money Can't Buy'' (With actor [[Ewan McGregor]]) - BBC (2001) * ''The Disco and Weatherman Show'' - BBC Education Channel (2006) * ''[[The New Paul O'Grady Show]]'' - [[Channel 4]] (11/01/2007) * ''[[Richard & Judy]] '' - Channel 4 (21/08/2007) * ''[[Long Way Down]] '' - BBC Two (28/10/2007) * ''Saturday Live'' - BBC Radio Four (26/04/2008) * ''The Paul O'Grady Show'' - Channel 4 (29/04/2008) * ''The Wright Stuff'' - five (1/05/2008) * ''[[The One Show]]'' – BBC One (19/05/2008) * ''[[The Graham Norton Show]]'' - BBC Two (29 May 2008) <!-- Please see [[MOS:DATE]] before "fixing" date format --> == Books == * ''The Survival Handbook'' (1990) * ''The Outdoor Survival Handbook'' (1992) * ''Ray Mears' World of Survival'' (1997) * ''Bushcraft'' (2002) * ''Essential Bushcraft'' (2003) * ''The Real Heroes of [[Telemark]]: The True Story of the Secret Mission to Stop Hitler's Atomic Bomb'' (2003) * ''Ray Mears' Bushcraft Survival'' (2005) * ''Wild Food by Ray Mears & Gordon Hillman'' (2007) * ''Ray Mears Goes Walkabout'' (2008) * ''Vanishing World - A Life of Bushcraft'' (to be published 2 Oct 2008) == See also == * [[Mors Kochanski]] * [[Richard Proenneke]] * [[Les Stroud]] * [[Jeff Corwin]] * [[Les Hiddins]] * [[Tom Brown (naturalist)]] * [[Rüdiger Nehberg]], ''Sir Vival'' * [[Survival kit]] * [[Survivalism]] == External links == * [http://www.raymears.com/ Ray Mears' own web site] * [http://www.myspace.com/raymears Ray Mears on MySpace] * [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1893776/ Ray Mears @ IMDb] * {{bbc name|111657|Ray Mears}} == References == <references/> {{DEFAULTSORT:Mears, Ray}} [[Category:British television presenters]] [[Category:British writers]] [[Category:1964 births]] [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:Survival skills]] [[Category:Media documenting survival skills]] [[Category:Old Reigatians]] [[nl:Ray Mears]]