Zeb Soanes
- committee53
- Apr 4
- 2 min read
Friday April 4 2025
We had a lively, stimulating evening with Zeb Soanes, the well known broadcaster and writer, who talked to Janet Baylis about his varied career. Zeb was discussing in particular his popular Gaspard books for children, which were inspired by his encounters with an urban fox. Wonderful illustrations accompanied the familiar rich, sonorous voice as he read extracts, introducing us to the world of Gaspard and his animal friends. Zeb is proud of his Suffolk roots and was especially proud to be awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Suffolk in 2023. He wrote stories even as a child but he dreamed of acting. Having studied Drama and Creative Writing at UEA, he went on to teach drama and to tour as an actor. He joined the BBC from local radio, beginning as a continuity announcer in 1998, then spending over twenty years as a BBC newsreader and as the reassuring voice of the Shipping Forecast.
As a morning newsreader Zeb rose early so urban foxes were a familiar sight near his home in Islington. But, returning one evening at 1.30 am after reading the Shipping Forecast, he was visited by a small fox; it was Gaspard, who became a regular visitor. Zeb featured the fox’s imagined adventures in a blog and Gaspard gained a wide following, with his own Twitter account. It was a negative article about Zeb and the fox in The Daily Mail that led to the first book, Gaspard The Fox. Zeb wanted to present foxes from his own observations, not as they are frequently portrayed. He added a cat and a dog and created adventures based around his area of London. He approached James Mayhew to illustrate and found a soulmate. It was a collaborative venture from the start and a great success. A second story soon followed, Gaspard First in Show.
Zeb wanted to create the sort of book he loved as a child, books parents could enjoy reading to their children. There was meticulous attention to detail, using matt paper, easier for children to read. He wanted ‘meaty’ stories and detailed illustrations that revealed more on each reading. Zeb and James worked closely together, trying out various media. James used traditional tools, mainly pen and ink, and watercolours, creating his own new shade of ink especially for these books, which he calls ‘Gaspard Red’. He based his illustrations on sketches of real life animals, attracting praise for representing foxes more sympathetically than their sly literary predecessors.
Music was always important to Zeb and it plays an increasing role in his career. His father was a Methodist minister and as a child he travelled around old chapels in Suffolk, reading aloud while his mother played the harmonium. He has been a regular presenter of the BBC Proms and now presents ‘Relaxing Evenings with Zeb Soanes’ on Classic FM, where his first guest was Judi Dench. He also presents concerts with leading orchestras, including ‘Peter and the Wolf’, ‘Babar the Elephant’ and ‘Paddington’. His recent books in the Gaspard series, Gaspard’s Foxtrot and Gaspard’s Christmas, have been adapted as narrated concert works by Jonathan Dove. Zeb is truly a Renaissance man!
Dymphna Crowe
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