David Dougan obituary
My father, David Dougan, who has died aged 85, was a promoter of the arts, broadcaster and expert on industrial history, the English civil war and the Italian renaissance.
He began his working life as a journalist in the 1960s with the Journal in Newcastle upon Tyne, then joined Tyne-Tees Television and the BBC, making regional and national programmes and writing for the Financial Times. A well-known figure in the north-east of England, in the late 60s he presented Look North and the Money Programme. His high points were interviewing two prime ministers, Harold Macmillan and Alec Douglas-Hume.
He wrote more than a dozen books, notably about industrial history, including a biography of the first Lord Armstrong, and an account of the English civil war. He was a proud republican.
Switching careers in 1970 to arts management, he became director of the regional arts association Northern Arts, then in 1984 director of the Crafts Council of England and Wales. In 1989 he became Essex county council’s first arts officer, the final step in his varied and distinguished career.
Born in Richmond, Yorkshire, to William Dougan, a tailor, and Blanche (nee Smith), a housewife, he attended the local grammar school and was studying for Oxbridge entrance when he chose to do his national service instead. After two years with the Green Howards, he became a journalist, including with the Northern Echo, and then joined ICI in Teesside as a publicity officer.
In 1959, he went to Durham University to study politics and economics, where he was president of the student union and editor of the student newspaper Palatinate. He gained the first of his five degrees, which went on to include a PhD in arts management from City, University of London.
On retiring in 1997, he continued to promote the arts and learning. He was chair of DanceEast in the period when the organisation expanded its work, preparing to move from an Ipswich school to its impressive DanceHouse. He was twice chair of the Bury St Edmunds U3A, and lectured on a range of subjects including art history. A relentless learner, he spent his final weeks delving into Irish literature in an attempt to grasp James Joyce.
Energetic and kind, David supported, encouraged and inspired many other people and numerous organisations to develop their work and interests.
He is survived by his second wife, Barbara (nee Green), whom he married in 1986, and their children, Aroon and me, by a son, Mark, from his first marriage, to Eileen (nee Ludbrook), which ended in divorce, and by three grandchildren, Emily, Jessica and Talulah.