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D. G. Hessayon
English author and botanist (1928–2025) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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David Gerald Hessayon OBE (13 February 1928 – 16 January 2025) was an English author and botanist who is known for a best-selling series of paperback gardening manuals known as the "Expert Guides" under his title Dr. D. G. Hessayon. The series started in 1958 with Be Your Own Gardening Expert and in 2008 it celebrated its 50th anniversary and the 50 millionth copy in print.[1] They have become the best selling gardening books in history.[2]
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Background
Hessayon was the son of a Cypriot landowner, was born on 13 February 1928, and grew up in Salford, Lancashire, England.[3] He gained a Bachelor of Science degree in botany from Leeds University.[3] In 1950, he travelled to the United States where he worked as the editor of a small-town newspaper. In 1953, he went to the Gold Coast as a Research Fellow at the University College before returning to Manchester to obtain his doctorate in soil ecology.[3] In 1955, he accepted a position as chief scientist with Pan Britannica Industries Ltd (PBI), becoming chairman in 1972. It was whilst working for PBI that Hessayon formulated the idea for his "Expert" guides to gardening.
Hessayon and his wife, novelist Joan Parker Gray Hessayson (d. 2001), had two daughters.[3] He lived in Essex, and died at a nearby hospital on 16 January 2025, at the age of 96.[3][4][5]
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The "Expert" guides
A steady stream of publications followed the initial Be Your Own Gardening Expert, each maintaining the basic formula of down-to-earth writing broken up into short sections with headers, and illustrated with what were at the time lavish numbers of colour photographs, graphic images and charts. In later editions the Be Your Own ...Expert titles were changed to The ... Expert. On the British bestsellers list for the 1980s, two Experts were in the Top 10. There are (as of 2009[update]) over 20 "Expert" titles in 22 languages and in Britain their sales continue to dominate the gardening paperback lists.[6] The Vegetable & Herb Expert [7] continues to be the best seller.
Nobody has improved on the formula for getting facts on the page in the most immediately intelligible manner
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Recognition
In 1993, Hessayon received the first-ever Lifetime Achievement award at the British Book Awards. He was also awarded the Veitch Memorial Medal of the Royal Horticultural Society in 1992 for his contribution to the advancement and improvement of the science and practice of horticulture. In 1999, he was awarded a Guinness World Records certificate for being Britain's "bestselling non-fiction author of the 1990s".[citation needed]
Despite a resolve to stay out of the limelight,[9] Hessayon received further awards, including a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Garden Media Guild,[10] and three honorary doctorates.[11] In the 2007 New Year Honours, he was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to gardening and to charity.[12]
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Perspective
From 1959, Hessayon wrote many books.
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Notes
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