Birch
Silver Birch
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Eudicots
(unranked):	Rosids
Order:	Fagales
Family:	Betulaceae
Genus:	Betula L.
Species
Many species; see text and classification

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Birch is a broadleaved deciduous hardwood tree of the genus Betula ( /ˈbɛtjʊlə/ Bé-tu-la),^[1] in the family Betulaceae which also includes alders, hazels and hornbeams and is closely related to the beech/oak family, Fagaceae. The genus Betula contains from 30 to 60 known taxa of which 11 are on the IUCN 2011 Red List of Threatened Species. They are typically rather short-lived pioneer species widespread in the Northern Hemisphere particularly in northern temperate and boreal climates.

Etymology[link]

The common name "birch" is derived from an old Germanic root, birka, with the Proto-Indo-European root *bherəg, "white, bright; to shine." The Proto-Germanic rune berkanan is named after the birch. The generic name Betula is from Latin.

Description[link]

The front and rear sides of a piece of birch bark

Birch species are generally small to medium-sized trees or shrubs, mostly of temperate climates. The simple leaves are alternate, singly or doubly serrate, feather-veined, petiolate and stipulate. They often appear in pairs, but these pairs are really borne on spur-like, two-leaved, lateral branchlets.^[2] The fruit is a small samara, although the wings may be obscure in some species. They differ from the alders (Alnus, other genus in the family) in that the female catkins are not woody and disintegrate at maturity, falling apart to release the seeds, unlike the woody, cone-like female alder catkins.

The bark of all birches is characteristically marked with long, horizontal lenticels, and often separates into thin, papery plates, especially upon the paper birch. It is resistant to decay, due to the resinous oil it contains. Its decided color gives the common names gray, white, black, silver and yellow birch to different species.

The buds form early and are full grown by midsummer, all are lateral, no terminal bud is formed; the branch is prolonged by the upper lateral bud. The wood of all the species is close-grained with satiny texture and capable of taking a fine polish; its fuel value is fair.

Flower and fruit[link]

The flowers are monoecious, opening with or before the leaves and borne on three-flowered clusters in the axils of the scales of drooping or erect catkins or aments. Staminate aments are pendulous, clustered or solitary in the axils of the last leaves of the branch of the year or near the ends of the short lateral branchlets of the year. They form in early autumn and remain rigid during the winter. The scales of the staminate aments when mature are broadly ovate, rounded, yellow or orange color below the middle, dark chestnut brown at apex. Each scale bears two bractlets and three sterile flowers, each flower consisting of a sessile, membranaceous, usually two-lobed, calyx. Each calyx bears four short filaments with one-celled anthers or strictly, two filaments divided into two branches, each bearing a half-anther. Anther cells open longitudinally. The pistillate aments are erect or pendulous, solitary; terminal on the two-leaved lateral spur-like branchlets of the year. The pistillate scales are oblong-ovate, three-lobed, pale yellow green often tinged with red, becoming brown at maturity. These scales bear two or three fertile flowers, each flower consisting of a naked ovary. The ovary is compressed, two-celled, and crowned with two slender styles; the ovule is solitary.

Ecology[link]

Birches often form even-aged stands on light, well-drained, particularly acidic soils. They are regarded as pioneer species, rapidly colonising open ground especially in secondary successional sequences following a disturbance or fire. Birches are early tree species to establish in primary successions and can become a threat to heathland if the seedlings and saplings are not suppressed by grazing or periodic burning. Birches are generally lowland species, but some species, such as Betula nana, have a montane distribution. In the British Isles there is some difference between the environments of Betula pendula and Betula pubescens, and some hybridization, though both are "opportunists in steady-state woodland systems". Mycorrhizal fungi, including sheathing (ecto)myccorhizas, are found in some cases to be beneficial to tree growth.^[3]

Birch foliage is used as a food plant by the larvae of a large number of Lepidoptera (butterflies and moths) species; see List of Lepidoptera that feed on birches.

Species[link]

Birches native to Europe and Asia include

• Betula aetniensis—Sicilian birch
• Betula albosinensis—Chinese red birch
  • Betula albosinensis var. septentrionalis—north Chinese red birch
• Betula alnoides—alder-leaf birch
• Betula austrosinensis—South China birch
• Betula carpatica—Carpathian birch
• Betula chinensis—Chinese dwarf birch
• Betula dalecarlica
• Betula ermanii—Erman's birch
• Betula grossa—Japanese cherry birch
• Betula jacquemontii (Betula utilis subsp. jacquemontii)—white-barked Himalayan birch
• Betula kamtschatica—Kamchatka birch platyphylla
• Betula litvinovii
• Betula mandschurica—Manchurian birch
  • Betula mandschurica var. japonica—Japanese birch
• Betula maximowiczii—monarch birch
• Betula medwediewii—Caucasian birch
• Betula nana—dwarf birch (also in northern North America)
• Betula pendula—silver birch
• Betula platyphylla (Betula pendula var. platyphylla)—Siberian silver birch
• Betula pubescens—downy birch, also known as white, European white or hairy birch (Europe and northern Asia)
  • Betula pubescens subspecies tortuosa—arctic downy birch (subarctic Eurasia)
• Betula szechuanica (Betula pendula var. szechuanica)—Sichuan birch
• Betula tianshanica
• Betula utilis—Himalayan birch

Note: many American texts have B. pendula and B. pubescens confused, though they are distinct species with different chromosome numbers.

Birches native to North America include

• Betula alleghaniensis—yellow birch (B. lutea)
• Betula cordifolia—mountain paper birch
• Betula glandulosa—American dwarf birch
• Betula kenaica—Kenai birch
• Betula lenta—sweet birch, cherry birch, or black birch
  • Betula lenta subsp. uber—Virginia round-leaf birch (endemic, Cressy Creek, Smyth County, Virginia)
• Betula michauxii—Newfoundland dwarf birch
• Betula minor—dwarf white birch
• Betula nana—dwarf birch or bog birch (also in northern Europe and Asia)
• Betula neoalaskana—Alaska birch or Yukon birch
• Betula nigra—river birch or black birch
• Betula occidentalis—water birch or red birch (B. fontinalis)
• Betula papyrifera—paper birch, canoe birch or American white birch
• Betula populifolia—gray birch
• Betula pumila—swamp birch

Uses[link]

Birch plywood

• Birch wood is fine-grained and pale in colour, often with an attractive satin-like sheen. Ripple figuring may occur, increasing the value of the timber for veneer and furniture-making. The highly decorative Masur (or Karelian) birch, from Betula verrucosa var. carelica, has ripple textures combined with attractive dark streaks and lines. Birch wood is suitable for veneer, and birch plywood is among the strongest and most dimensionally stable plywoods, although it is unsuitable for exterior use.
• Birch plywood is made from laminations of birch veneer. It is light but strong, and has many other good properties. Birch plywood is used to make longboards (skateboard), giving it a strong yet flexible ride. It is also used (often in very thin grades with many laminations) for making model aircraft.
• Extracts of birch are used for flavoring or leather oil, and in cosmetics such as soap or shampoo. In the past, commercial oil of wintergreen (methyl salicylate) was made from the sweet birch (Betula lenta).
• Birch-tar or Russian oil extracted from birch bark is thermoplastic and waterproof; it was used as a glue on, for example, arrows, and also for medicinal purposes.^[4]
• Fragrant twigs of silver birch are used in saunas to relax the muscles.

Birch leaves

• Birch is also associated with the feast of Pentecost in Germany, Central and Eastern Europe, and Russia, where its branches are used as decoration for churches and homes on this day.
• Birch leaves are used to make a diuretic tea and extracts for dyes and cosmetics.
• Ground birch bark, fermented in sea water, is used for seasoning the woolen, hemp or linen sails and hemp rope of traditional Norwegian boats.
• Birch twigs bound in a bundle, also called birch, were used for birching, a form of corporal punishment.
• Many of the First Nations of North America prized the birch for its bark, which due to its light weight, flexibility, and the ease with which it could be stripped from fallen trees, was often used for the construction of strong, waterproof but lightweight canoes, bowls, and wigwams.
• The Hughes H-4 Hercules was made mostly of birch wood, despite its better-known moniker, "The Spruce Goose".
• Birch is used as firewood due to its high calorific value per unit weight and unit volume. It burns well, without popping, even when frozen and freshly hewn. The bark will burn very well even when wet because of the oils it contains. With care, it can be split into very thin sheets that will ignite from even the smallest of sparks.
• Birch sap is a traditional drink in Northern Europe, Russia, and Northern China. The sap is also bottled and sold commercially. In the British Isles, the sap is often used to make a wine.^[5]
• Birch seeds are used as leaf litter in miniature terrain models.^[6]
• "Birch flowers" is the English marketing name for the catkins of the Broussonetia luzonica tree. Known in the Philippines as himbabao or alukon, these flowers are commonly used in the cuisine of northeastern Luzon. However, despite their English name and the similar appearance of their flowers, B. luzonica is not in any way related to the birch tree.^[7]

Medical[link]

• Birch bark is high in betulin and betulinic acid, phytochemicals which have potential as pharmaceuticals, and other chemicals which show promise as industrial lubricants.^{[citation needed]}
• Birch bark can be soaked until moist in water, and then formed into a cast for a broken arm.^[8]
• The inner bark of birch can be ingested safely.
• In northern latitudes, birch is considered to be the most important allergenic tree pollen, with an estimated 15-20% of hay fever sufferers sensitive to birch pollen grains. The major allergen is a protein called Bet v I.

Paper[link]

A birch bark inscription excavated from Novgorod, circa 1240–1260

Wood pulp made from birch gives relatively long and slender fibres for a hardwood. The thin walls cause the fibre to collapse upon drying, giving a paper with low bulk and low opacity. The birch fibres are, however, easily fibrillated and give about 75 % of the tensile strength of softwood.^[9] The low opacity makes it suitable for making glassine.

In India, the birch (Sanskrit: भुर्ज, bhurj) holds great historical significance in the culture of North India, where the thin bark coming off in winter was extensively used as writing paper. Birch paper (Sanskrit: भुर्ज पत्र, bhurj pətrə) is exceptionally durable and was the material used for many ancient Indian texts.^[10][11] This bark also has been used widely in ancient Russia as note paper (beresta) and for decorative purposes and even making footwear.

Tonewood[link]

Baltic birch is among the most sought-after wood in the manufacture of speaker cabinets. Birch has a natural resonance that peaks in the high and low frequencies, which are also the hardest for speakers to reproduce. This resonance compensates for the roll-off of low and high frequencies in the speakers, and evens the tone. Birch is known for having "natural EQ".

Drums are often made from birch. Prior to the 1970s, it was one of the most popular drum woods. Because of the need for greater volume and midrange clarity, drums were made almost entirely from maple until recently, when advances in live sound reinforcement and drum microphones have allowed the use of birch in high-volume situations. Birch drums have a natural boost in the high and low frequencies, which allows the drums to sound fuller.

Birch wood is sometimes used as a tonewood for semiacoustic and acoustic guitar bodies, and occasionally for solid-body guitar bodies. It is also a common material used in mallets for keyboard percussion.

Culture[link]

• Birches have spiritual importance in several religions, both modern and historical.
• They are associated with the Tír na nÓg, the land of the dead and the Sidhe, in Gaelic folklore, and as such frequently appear in Scottish, Irish, and English folksongs and ballads in association with death, or fairies, or returning from the grave.
• It is also New Hampshire's state tree.
• In the Swedish city of Umeå, the silver birch tree has a special place. In 1888, the city was ravaged by fires that spread all over the city and nearly burnt it down to the ground, but some birches, supposedly, halted the spread of the fire. To protect the city against future fires, it was decided to plant silver birch trees all over the city. Umeå later adopted the unofficial name of "City of the Birches (Björkarnas stad)". Also, the ice hockey team of Umeå is called Björklöven, translated to English "The Birch Leaves".
• In parts of Germany, young men erect decorated birch trees in front of the houses of their love interests on the night of May 1, to show their feelings.

See also[link]

Trees portal

• Birch beer
• Taxonomy of Betula

References[link]

• Flora of North America: Betula
• Flora of China: Betula
• Grimshaw, John (2009). New Trees, Recent introductions to cultivation. Kew Publishing, RBG Kew. pp. 163–174. 

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Betula

Wikispecies has information related to: Betula

• Tree Family Betulaceae Diagnostic photos of many species, Morton Arboretum specimens

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Diane Birch
Diane Birch performing at the J&R Music Festival 2009
Background information
Born	(1983-01-24) January 24, 1983 (age 29)
Origin	Michigan
Genres	Soul, blues
Instruments	Piano/Rhodes/Wurlitzer/Vocal
Years active	2009—
Labels	S-Curve
Website	www.dianebirch.com

Diane Birch (born January 24, 1983) is an American singer-songwriter.

Early life[link]

Birch was born in Michigan and her father was a Seventh-day Adventist preacher whose work took him to several countries. As a child Birch lived with her family in Zimbabwe, South Africa and Sydney, Australia. When she was ten, her family returned to the United States of America, and settled in Portland, Oregon. Diane attended Portland Adventist Elementary School and later, Portland Adventist Academy.^[1]

Birch began studying piano using the Suzuki method at the age of seven and she listened to opera, classical and church music while growing up.^[1]

Career[link]

Birch moved to Los Angeles to compose music for films and instead played piano at the Beverly Hotel and L'Orangerie. Prince heard her perform at the Polo Lounge in 2006 and invited her to join him at his home for a music session with his band. Birch moved to London, signed a publishing contract and wrote most of the songs that appeared on her debut album.

In 2007, she moved to New York City after signing with Steve Greenberg's S-Curve Records.

Birch's debut album, Bible Belt, was released in 2009 on S-Curve and received supportive reviews in Rolling Stone, Paper Magazine and the Huffington Post.^[2]

In 2009 Birch appeared on the Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, Late Show with David Letterman, the Carson Daly Show, Jimmy Kimmel, The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and the webcast, Live from Daryl's House ^[3]

Her song "Rise Up" was the Starbucks iTunes Pick of the Week in October 2009 and her song "Valentino" appeared in the movie Valentine's Day.^[4]

In 2010 Birch was the opening act for Stevie Wonder at the "Hard Rock Calling Festival" in Hyde Park and Nîmes, France and Nick Jonas and the Administration.^[5] Birch performed shows in Osaka and Tokyo.^{[citation needed]} In September, Birch released the single track "Gee Whiz It's Christmas" on Amazon and iTunes. Birch also co-wrote and sang the song "Too Soon to End" by Alain Clark.^{[citation needed]} In December Birch released a digital only EP called The Velveteen Age.

In addition to keyboards, Birch also plays guitar and the violin.

Discography[link]

Studio albums[link]

Other appearances[link]

Singles[link]

Music videos[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Diane Birch

• Official website
• Diane Birch youtube channel
• Diane Birch: The 'Bible Belt,' In Eclectic Song from National Public Radio
• Diane Birch live in concert from NPR station WXPN
• Diane Birch at the Internet Movie Database
• Diane Birch performs Rewind as part of Guardian How I wrote series

Daryl Hall (born October 11, 1946) is an American rock, R&B and soul singer, keyboardist, guitarist, songwriter and producer, best known as the co-founder and lead vocalist of Hall & Oates (with co-founder/guitarist/songwriter John Oates). Hall scored several Billboard chart hits in the 1970s and early 1980s, and is regarded as one of the best soul singers of his generation.^[1] Guitarist Robert Fripp,^[2] who collaborated with him in the late 1970s and early 1980s, has written, "Daryl's pipes were a wonder. I have never worked with a more able singer." Since late 2007, he has hosted the web television series, Live From Daryl's House. He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2004.^[3]

Early life and career[link]

Daryl Franklin Hohl was born in Pottstown, a Pennsylvania borough 40 miles from Philadelphia. He started a recording career during and after attending Owen J. Roberts High School, from which he graduated in 1965 and entered Philadelphia's Temple University, majoring in music, while working with Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff as both an artist and session musician. Pursuing his goals in the big city, Hall quickly formed creative affiliations with such artists as Smokey Robinson, the Temptations and many other top soul singers of the 1960s.

In 1967, he met John Oates, also a college student from Temple, and embarked on a 30-odd year creative journey. According to Daryl Hall they met when, "We got in the middle of a fight at a dance - I have no idea what the fight was about. I guess the Greek letters on one gang's jackets didn't appeal to the other gang. We both beat it out the back and met on the elevator while leaving the place rather quickly." Hall was already a senior, while Oates was a freshman, and both had played it out temporarily, until Oates transferred schools, at only 19. Daryl did not let this discourage his musical career as he worked in a short-lived rock band Gulliver. By 1969, just one year after his dropout from college, Hall went back to concentrating on recording other artists, which led them into signing their very first record contract, early in 1972.

Hall & Oates[link]

Signed to Atlantic by Ahmet Ertegun and managed by Tommy Mottola in the early 1970s, Hall & Oates have sold more albums than any other duo in music history. Their second album, Abandoned Luncheonette, produced by Arif Mardin and released in 1973, yielded the single, "She's Gone", which went to #7 in the U.S. Top 10 on re-release in 1976 after reaching #1 on the R&B charts when it was covered by Tavares. The duo recorded one more album with Atlantic, War Babies (produced by Todd Rundgren), before they were dropped and promptly signed to RCA. During their tenure at RCA the duo catapulted to international superstardom.

From the mid-1970s to the mid-1980s, Hall & Oates would score six U.S. #1 singles, including "Rich Girl" (also #1 R&B), "Kiss on My List", "Private Eyes", "I Can't Go for That (No Can Do)" (also #1 R&B), "Maneater" and "Out of Touch" from their six multi-platinum albums - Bigger Than Both of Us, Voices, Private Eyes, H2O, Rock 'n Soul Part 1 and Big Bam Boom - the last five of which were released consecutively. The era would also produce an additional five U.S. Top 10 singles, "Sara Smile", "One on One", "Family Man," "You Make My Dreams", "Say It Isn't So" and "Method of Modern Love".

Solo projects[link]

In addition to his work with Oates, Hall has made music as a solo artist as well as recording with Robert Fripp in the late ‘70s, working on Fripp’s critically praised, Exposure album from 1979. 1977 Fripp produced and performed on Hall's debut solo album, the much-acclaimed Sacred Songs. This album was released 1980.

In 1984, he co-wrote and produced, with Arthur Baker, the single Swept Away for Diana Ross, which reached US #19, US R & B #3 and US Dance/Club Play #1.

In 1985, Hall performed two songs in the first Farm Aid concert in Champaign, Illinois.^[4] Hall participated in the We Are the World session as well as closing the Live Aid show in Philadelphia. He also made an album with Dave Stewart that year, Three Hearts in the Happy Ending Machine. He has recorded such solo works as Soul Alone in 1993 and Can't Stop Dreaming in 1996, both of which were received well internationally.

In July 2005, Hall was diagnosed with Lyme Disease causing him to cancel a majority of Hall & Oates' summer tour. The duo released a Christmas album in October 2006 titled Home for Christmas.

In 2007, Hall guest starred on the HBO series Flight of the Conchords, portraying an MC of a world music fest.

On November 14, 2007, Hall appeared on the Howard Stern Show, discussed his hatred of deer and rabbits, prompted by his career-threatening bout with Lyme Disease, sang acoustic versions of "Sara Smile' and "Rich Girl", and talked about his new monthly performance webcast called "Live from Daryl's House". The webcast has so far featured appearances by KT Tunstall,Rob Thomas, Eric Hutchinson, and Gym Class Heroes' Travis McCoy, as well as a holiday special featuring songs from the Hall and Oates release, Home for Christmas. The show featured guests Ray Manzarek and Robbie Krieger of The Doors.

Speaking of his reasons for starting the Live From Daryl's House webcast, in June 2008 Hall told noted UK R&B writer Pete Lewis of the award-winning Blues & Soul: "For me it was sort of an obvious thing. I've been touring my whole adult life really, and, you know, you can't be EVERYWHERE! Nor do I WANT to be everywhere at this point! I only like to spend so much time per year on the road. So I thought 'Why don't I just do something where anyone who wants to see me anywhere in the world CAN?! And, instead of doing the artist/audience performance-type thing, I wanted to deconstruct it and make the audience more of a fly-on-the-wall kind of observer... I mean, what I've always done onstage is very natural. I talk to the audience and it's a very sitting-roomy kind of thing. So I just thought I'd basically bring that to the web."^[5]

On March 12, 2008, Hall played a well-received set with his band at the South By Southwest festival in Austin, Texas.^[6]

Hall was slated to sing the National Anthem before Game 5 of the 2008 World Series at Philadelphia's Citizens Bank Park but, due to an illness, could not appear, and Oates filled in for him.^[7]

In 2009, Hall guest starred on the Independent Film Channel series, Z-Rock (as himself).

In 2010 Hall was back in the studio working on a solo recording with bassist and musical director, T-Bone Wolk. Wolk died of a heart attack on February 28, 2010, hours after completing a session with Hall. Hall released a statement about the death of his bassist of nearly 30 years: “It’s not if I will go on, but how? T-Bone was one of the most sensitive and good human beings that I have ever known.”^[8]

On June 11, 2010 Hall shared the stage with electronic duo Chromeo for a special late night set at the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival. The groups had previously collaborated in a 2008 episode of Live from Daryl's House. Their Bonnaroo set consisted of a mix of both Hall & Oates and Chromeo tracks with the encore featuring Fancy Footwork and You Make My Dreams.

Hall hosted WGN America's 2010 New Year's Eve coverage as a Live from Daryl's House special. The special featured clips of previous Live from Daryl's House episodes. Steve Dahl, a Chicago radio host, praised the special as the best New Year's Eve special on television for 2010–11, but criticized the show's lack of a live countdown to midnight.^[9]

On September 27, 2011 Daryl Hall released "Laughing Down Crying" on Verve Records.

In August 12, 2011 UK Electronic duo Nero released their debut album "Welcome Reality", which features guest vocals by Hall on the track "Reaching Out", which also samples Hall & Oats 80's hit Out of Touch. Reaching Out was released as the sixth single on December 6, 2011.

Personal life[link]

Hall had a 30-plus year relationship with Sara Allen (the inspiration for the song "Sara Smile") which ended in 2001 for undisclosed reasons. They were never married nor had any children. Hall does have one son, Darren, from another relationship. He was married to Bryna Lublin from 1969 to 1972. He is now married to Amanda Aspinall and lives with her and his two step-children, March and Orson. March does backing vocals on songs "Save Me," "Message To Ya" and "Eyes For You" on Daryl's 2011 album, Laughing Down Crying.^[10]

Hall restores and preserves historic homes in both the United States and England. In 2008, he purchased the 18th century Bray House, in the Maine town of Kittery.^[11] and is in the process of restoring it.^[12] He also has restored a Georgian-style home in London, England, first built in 1740, one of only 50 houses with direct waterfront access to the River Thames.^{[citation needed]} He purchased two homes located near Hartford, Connecticut – one built in 1771, the other in 1780 – and had them moved to the same property in New York's Dutchess County where they were combined and restored; the new structure was later sold.^[13] After having the houses moved, he discovered that both homes, by coincidence, were connected to the same family.^[13]

Hit singles[link]

Hall has written or co-written 11 Billboard Number One songs, "She's Gone" (with John Oates as covered by Tavares), "Rich Girl", "Kiss On My List" (with Janna Allen), "Private Eyes" (with Sara Allen, Janna Allen & Warren Pash), "I Can't Go for That (No Can Do)" (with John Oates & Sara Allen), "Say It Isn't So", "Maneater" (with John Oates & Sara Allen), "Out of Touch" (with John Oates), "Everytime You Go Away" (covered by Paul Young) and "Do It For Love" (with John Oates).

Hall also sang lead vocals and has written or co-written 8 more popular Billboard songs that also made it to the Top 10, such as: "Adult Education" (with John Oates & Sara Allen), "Sara Smile" (with John Oates - a song that refers to Hall's ex-girlfriend), "Method of Modern Love" (with Janna Allen), "You Make My Dreams" (with John Oates & Sara Allen), "Everything Your Heart Desires", "One on One", "So Close" (with Jon Bon Jovi & Danny Kortchmar) and "Did It in a Minute" (with Sara Allen & Janna Allen). He has also had hits as a vocalist, reaching #12 with his 1980 rendition of The Righteous Brothers' "You've Lost That Loving Feeling," and #6 with 1983's "Family Man," written by Mike Oldfield.

Discography[link]

Albums[link]

Singles[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• The Official Hall and Oates Website
• Live From Daryl's House
• Daryl Hall at the Internet Movie Database

This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. This biography of a living person needs additional citations for verification. Tagged since July 2009. Its lead section may not adequately summarize its contents. Please consider expanding the lead to provide an accessible overview of the article's key points. Tagged since November 2009.

Raymond Paul "Ray" Mears (born 7 February 1964) is an English woodsman, instructor, author and TV presenter. His TV appearances cover bushcraft and survival techniques, and he is best known for the TV series Ray Mears' Bushcraft, Ray Mears' World of Survival, Extreme Survival, Survival with Ray Mears, Wild Britain with Ray Mears and Ray Mears Goes Walkabout.

Early life[link]

Mears grew up in Kenley, Greater London, and the North Downs, where he discovered a countryside abundant with wildlife. Educated at Reigate Grammar School, a co-educational independent school in Reigate, Surrey, 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.

Interests[link]

Mears's 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.^{[citation needed]} He has travelled extensively across the world for his TV series and has learned survival techniques from the indigenous peoples he has met. In his programmes he demonstrates his knowledge of the wild, how to find food from seeds, berries, roots and other growing things, and how to survive by constructing temporary shelters, fires and canoes from natural materials.

Mears has practiced Judo for many years. He once proudly on TV when challenged as a guest wrestled the then winner of a 6 player bushmans tournament. Mears emerged victorious after a strenuous and competitive match. The bush community were most impressed.

Mears is particularly interested in the survival of groups of resistance fighters and partisans for extended periods during the Second World War, such as the Norwegian heavy water plant saboteurs (see The Real Heroes of Telemark^[1]) and the Bielski brothers in Belarus (see Extreme Survival).

Personal life[link]

Mears met his partner, Rachel, in 1992 when she attended one of his five day survival courses. The couple lived in East Sussex with her two adult children, and married in 2005, after Rachel was diagnosed with breast cancer. Rachel died from cancer in 2006, aged 50, and her ashes are scattered in the Ashdown forest near their home.^[2]

While filming a documentary in Wyoming in 2005 Mears was involved in a serious accident. The helicopter in which he and his camera crew were travelling struck the ground during a steep low level turn, and broke apart, rolling to a stop. The fuel tank was ruptured in the accident, and escaping fuel covered Mears and the crew. No fire occurred, and Mears was able to escape the wreckage and assist in the rescue and first aid of one of the crew who was badly injured. Mears escaped uninjured.^[3]

Non-television work[link]

Mears started his bushcraft company aged 19. Mears' first book, The Survival Handbook, was published in 1990. Mears has continued to publish books, both standalone works, and as accompaniments to his TV series.

In September 2007, he was awarded an honorary doctorate from Oxford Brookes University, and in the same year he began to deliver public lectures across the United Kingdom on his experiences in front of and behind the lens.

In July 2010, Mears was asked by Northumbria Police to help them track fugitive killer Raoul Moat, after he fled his temporary tent-based shelter in the village of Rothbury.^[4]

Television[link]

Mears has made a number of series for BBC television, visiting various parts of the world and covering such topics as bushcraft and survival skills, the traditional culture of indigenous peoples, and the achievements of noted explorers.

In 2009 he was approached by ITV to present a planned revival of its long-running nature documentary series Survival.^[5] The resulting three-part series was rebranded Survival with Ray Mears and broadcast on ITV1 in 2010. Each episode followed Mears as he used his tracking skills to locate bears, wolves and leopards. In a Radio Times interview to promote the series, Mears complained of being typecast by the BBC.^[6] This series was followed by Wild Britain with Ray Mears, also broadcast by ITV.

Series[link]

• Wild Tracks (BBC, 1994)
• Tracks (BBC, 1994–97)
• Ray Mears' World of Survival (BBC, 1997–98, 2 seasons of 6 episodes each)
• Ray Mears' Country Tracks (BBC, 1998, 2002–03)
• The Essential Guide to Rocks (BBC Education, 1998)
• Ray Mears' Extreme Survival (BBC, 1999–2002, 3 seasons of 6 episodes each)
• Ray Mears' Adventure Special (BBC, 2001) – Mears takes Ewan McGregor into the Honduran jungle on the trail of the prehistoric people of the Mosquito Coast.
• Ray Mears' Real Heroes of Telemark (BBC, 2003)
• Ray Mears' Bushcraft (BBC, 2004–05, 2 seasons of 5 episodes each)
• Ray Mears' Wild Food (BBC, 2007, 5 episodes)
• Ray Mears Goes Walkabout (BBC, June 2008, 4 episodes)^[7] – Mears tours the Australian outback. An accompanying hardcover book was published in the UK by Hodder and Stoughton in March 2008. In the series Mears meets one of his heroes: Les Hiddins (aka "The Bush Tucker Man"). He also heads to the Kimberley region to meet the reputed aboriginal artist and bush guide Ju Ju Wilson.
• Ray Mears' Northern Wilderness (BBC Two, Autumn 2009, 6 episodes) – Mears follows in the footsteps of pioneers who opened up Canada, such as Samuel Hearne, John Rae and David Thompson.
• Survival with Ray Mears (ITV, Spring 2010, 3 episodes)
• Wild Britain with Ray Mears (ITV, Autumn 2010, 6 episodes) - To be followed in 2011 by extended 60 minute episodes with exclusive additional content to be broadcast on UKTV's natural history channel Eden.

Books[link]

• 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 & Professor Gordon Hillman (2007)
• Ray Mears Goes Walkabout (2008)
• Vanishing World - A Life of Bushcraft (2008)
• Northern Wilderness (2009)

Quotations[link]

Quotations by Ray Mears include:

• "Bushcraft is what you carry in your mind and your muscles."
• "The great thing about bushcraft is that wherever you go, the skills go with you."
• "One of the great things about bushcraft is that skills you learn in your back garden can be used all over the world." ^[8]
• "Knowledge is the key to survival and the best thing about that is: it doesn't weigh anything."
• "You cannot underestimate the importance of preparation."
• "As far as I'm concerned, these people are just showmen." On Bear Grylls^[9]

See also[link]

• Les Hiddins
• Mors Kochanski
• Lofty Wiseman
• Richard Proenneke
• Les Stroud
• Bear Grylls
• Rüdiger Nehberg
• Bruce Parry
• Lars Monsen

References[link]