David Morris Pepper was an Emeritus Professor of Geography at Oxford Brookes. He was born in Portsmouth to violinists Rose and Maurice Pepper in 1940.
David spent his early youth in Hastings where he loved to swim in the sea every morning before school. He later moved with his family to London, meeting his lifelong friend Peter at Queen Elizabeth’s Grammar School for Boys in Barnett.
He went to Liverpool University in 1963 to study geography – just in time to catch the start of the Beatles and Mersey sound. By the height of the swinging sixties, he had moved on to do two more undergraduate years at St John’s College, Oxford, meeting more lifelong friends Ralph, Andy and Paul among others.
In his own words ‘still intent on avoiding a proper job’, he went on to a PhD in Physical Geography at Kings College, London.
Homesick for the Dreaming Spires, in 1969 David moved to the newly created Oxford Polytechnic, which eventually became Oxford Brookes.
During his long career there he taught and researched in a variety of fields, including physical and economic geography, environmental politics and philosophy, development, peace studies; and geographical education.
In the late seventies and early eighties, David spent several happy terms at universities in North Carolina and Colorado with his family on exchange programmes.
Over the course of his career, David published several important books on alternative communities, environmentalism and eco-socialism. He edited books on nuclear power and the geography of peace and war and wrote scholarly journals on the ecology movement and utopian thought.
His geography colleagues at Brookes – Dennis, Alan, Peter, Lindsey, Heather, John, Judy, Martin, George, Helen, Simon and Adrian – and many of his students – including Phil, Nickie, Biff and Martyn – became dear friends.
Such was his passion for teaching that David continued to work at Oxford Brookes after his formal retirement as a study skills tutor. He also taught on an environmental history course for students of a trade union degree at London Met where he met good friends Nigel, Claire, and Mike. He later became an associate lecturer in geography for the Open University.
Finally, David spent several years volunteering at the Oxfam Bookshop in St Giles with his boss and friend, James.
David was a committed socialist and environmentalist. He particularly loved hiking and believed that the countryside should be open to all.
David was also passionate about music, particularly classical and jazz. He learned to tap dance later in life earning his third gold bar well in to his 60s. But perhaps his greatest passion was his beloved football club Wolverhampton Wanders.
David supported Wolves from the age of 15 when they were at their best, remained a season ticket holder throughout their wilderness years and was able to see them once again reach the heady heights of the premiership before he passed away.
David particularly enjoyed football weekends away with his good mates Alan, Keith, Frank, Manuel, Dave, Pete, Chris, Mike, Martyn and Ifan watching ‘lesser teams’ play and taking in the ‘cultural highlights’ of the places they visited. This often meant putting the world to rights in a local bar over several glasses of wine.
David loved his family too. He married Anne in 1968 and had four children Lucy, Edward, Jonathan, and James. Later he married Liza where he lived happily in Vicarage Lane with Teddy and their cats Eccles and Minnie.
The Flaneuse 