Geoff Crowther (15 March 1944 – 13 April 2021) was a British travel writer who wrote for BIT and Lonely Planet.
Geoff Crowther | |
|---|---|
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| Born | 15 March 1944 West Yorkshire, England[a] |
| Died | 13 April 2021 (aged 77) South East Queensland, Australia |
| Alma mater | University of Liverpool |
| Occupation | Travel writer |
| Organization(s) | BIT, Lonely Planet |
| Spouse |
Hyung Poon
(m. 1982, divorced) |
| Children | 1 |
Life
editEarly life
editCrowther was born in West Yorkshire[a] on 15 March 1944. His parents worked in a cotton mill.[1][3]
He attended Calder High School, and began hitchhiking around Europe while still a teenager. At the University of Liverpool, he studied biochemistry, and considered staying on to undertake a doctorate, but in the end his desire to travel proved too great.[1][2][3]
BIT and Lonely Planet
editIn 1972, he joined the alternative information service BIT, where he oversaw the production of Overland to India and Australia. The guide impressed Tony and Maureen Wheeler, and in 1976 they invited him to join Lonely Planet.[2][4][5]
Personal life
editHe met his first wife, Hyung Poon, whilst working on a guidebook in South Korea. They married in Seoul in 1982, and their son, Ashley, was born in 1989. After their marriage ended,[b] Crowther had a brief second marriage to a woman he met in Kenya, but this also ended in divorce.[1][2]
Final years
editIn 2005, he sustained a head injury in an accident and moved to a residential care facility.[2] He died in South East Queensland on 13 April 2021, at the age of seventy-seven, as a result of complications arising from dementia.[3][1]
Notable guidebooks
edit- Africa on the Cheap (1977) ISBN 9780959808087
- South America on a Shoestring (1980) ISBN 9780908086085
- India: A Travel Survival Kit (1981) ISBN 9780908086238
- Malaysia, Singapore & Brunei: A Travel Survival Kit (1982) ISBN 9780908086313
- Korea & Taiwan: A Travel Survival Kit (1982) ISBN 9780908086108
- Africa on a Shoestring (1983) ISBN 9780908086481
- East Africa: A Travel Survival Kit (1987) ISBN 9780864420053
- Morocco, Algeria & Tunisia: A Travel Survival Kit (1989) ISBN 9780864420343
- Kenya: A Travel Survival Kit (1991) ISBN 9780864421036
Notes
editReferences
edit- ^ a b c d e f "Geoff Crowther obituary". The Times. 13 May 2021. Archived from the original on 4 January 2022.
- ^ a b c d e f Jenkins, Siona (14 May 2021). "Geoff Crowther, guidebook writer, 1944–2021". Financial Times. Archived from the original on 14 May 2021.
- ^ a b c Roberts, Sam (7 May 2021). "Geoff Crowther, 77, Dies; Guided Travelers Looking to Get Lost". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 7 May 2021.
- ^ Calder, Simon (28 April 2021). "Geoff Crowther: The life of 'the patron saint of travellers in the third world'". The Independent. Archived from the original on 30 April 2021.
- ^ "Last Word: Geoff Crowther, Isamu Akasaki, June Newton, Les McKeown". BBC Radio 4. 30 April 2021. Archived from the original on 30 April 2021.
External links
edit- Interview with Ashley Crowther in 2021, in which he talks about his father.