At the age of 90, one of the original weather forecasters on BBC Look East passed away. Following a period of ill health, Graham Parker passed away on Christmas Eve in a hospital in Norwich.
Before joining Look East in 1984 and establishing a meteorological center in Norwich, he began his career in the 1950s at the Met Office and worked as a national TV forecaster.
He was a “genuine gentleman,” according to his son Keith, and “he set the benchmark in many respects – in who he was and how he carried himself.”
Mr. Parker, a son and a grandson of innovators was born in London’s East End and raised in neighboring Willesden. He first visited Norfolk while serving his National Service at RAF Coltishall.
A geography teacher inspired his interest in the weather, and he went on to earn two degrees.
In addition to Banstead, Surrey, where he first settled with his young family, he also worked for the Meteorological Office in Gibraltar, Malta, and London. Eventually, his family relocated to Eaton, close to Norwich.
While presenting on BBC Television from 1963 to 1974, Mr. Parker—who was married to his wife Margaret for about 64 years and had four children and three grandchildren—became a well-known figure.
When we were kids, we used to yell, “Daddy’s on television!”,” recalled Keith Parker, 58, speaking from his home in Cyprus.
We would always wave to him, but he would never respond or say hello to the kids because he was such a professional.
“Excellent performance”
Before satellites, according to Mr. Parker Jr., his father would forecast the weather using data from weather balloons and reports from aircraft, boats, and lighthouses.
It wasn’t always simple to do the job, whether it was predicting or giving a presentation without an autocue and memorizing up to four minutes of exact material.
Mr. Parker Jr. said, “You were never pardoned for the ones you got wrong.
However, he claimed that because his father didn’t have scripts, he was a fantastic impromptu performer, especially when the two of them starred in gang performances for the Scouts, an organization Mr. Parker strongly supported.
According to Mr. Parker Jr.,
“He wasn’t a career person; he was more about the service and service for the community.”
“Everyone you spoke to always gushed about what a nice, kind man he was, and he didn’t attempt to be that; he was it.”
Mr. Parker claimed in 2013 that he always considered his family when presenting. You have to imagine that there were just one or two people gathered around each small television in the kitchen or dining room, he continued.
“Forget that you weren’t speaking to millions of people.
I used to imagine my wife was on the other end and I used to talk to her, “You have to make it personal to those one or two people… Do not leave the diapers outside this afternoon because it will rain.
Mr. Parker was assigned by the Met Office to establish a regional office in Norwich, where he was quickly hired by BBC Look East to deliver their first-ever regional predictions.
He collaborated both off-screen and in the office with forecasters Phil Garner, Andy Cutcher, and Ivor Moores in Norwich.
Although he ran a tight ship and you couldn’t get away with much, Mr. Garner noted that he had a really gentle way of guiding you in the correct direction.
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