OUR PATRONS

Michael Parkinson C.B.E Michael Parkinson has been a lifelong friend of Dickie Bird. Michael was born in 1935 in Cudworth, near Barnsley, and was educated at Barnsley Grammar School. His early journalistic experience was gained on several local newspapers in Yorkshire and then the Manchester Guardian until he became a feature writer with The Daily Express in London. Michael played at Barnsley Cricket Club at the same time as Dickie and another great Yorkshire cricketer, Geoffrey Boycott. Michael's first work in television was as a current affairs producer at Granada Television and then as a reporter for BBC's 24 Hours. In 1965, he began writing a weekly sports column for The Sunday Times and writing the first of a number of books. Michael is well qualified to contribute to the work of the Foundation through his extensive knowledge of an array of different sports. Michael has presented his own BBC talk show entitled 'Parkinson' since 1971, still filling our television screens once a week. From 1979 until 1982 he also presented Parkinson for ABC and Channel 10 in Australia. Throughout his career he has also broadcast extensively on BBC Radio. His present Radio 2 show 'Parkinson's Sunday Supplement has been broadcast for the past eight years. In 1990 Michael joined The Daily Telegraph writing a regular weekly column on sport for the paper. In June of 2000, Michael was included in the Queen's Birthday Honours List and awarded a C.B.E. Michael and his wife Mary are extremely keen golfers. Another hobby is cricket. He still is passionate about Yorkshire and its County Cricket Club.