30/11/2021
I was saddened to hear a week or so ago of the passing of Roger Phillips. All fellow foragers will know his name and be so grateful to Roger for his fantastic books “Wild Food” and “Mushrooms”- both are essentials for the forager. The wonderful settings of his wild food recipes were works of art. His aim, he once explained, was “to photograph in the way the old botanical masters used to draw,” his delightfully arranged compositions showed in the habitat of their main wild ingredient. I recall the Carragheen soup precariously balanced on wave swept rocks – disaster must have followed seconds later! His Mushrooms book was the most comprehensive one on the subject selling enormous quantities. My copy is suffering rather, it wasn’t a coffee table book, but one taken out into the field in all weathers and is very well thumbed. I have a few of his other books too including “Wild Flowers of Britain.” This was his first, written in 1977 and sold 400,000 copies in its first year. There were many more, about 30 photographic field guides covering topics such as Herbs, Trees, Shrubs and Roses, together selling over 4.5 million copies worldwide. See his web site for the full set.
I had the pleasure to meet him once, at least 20 years ago. He was a “larger than life” character, a true eccentric but a very friendly man. He was serving a paella topped with English truffles from a 6 feet wide pan cooked over a fire. I don’t recall what he was wearing but in later life, he was usually wearing a red and white spotted beret, red glasses, and a red jacket, deliberately looking like a Fly Agaric!
From the obituaries that are around, there was much more to him. After years of voluntary work in a communal garden in a London Square where he lived, he took on its management transforming it. After serving as chair of the Society for the Protection of London Squares, Roger was awarded an MBE in the 2010 New Year Honours.
He was always supportive of fellow foragers, helping the newly formed Association of Foragers, talking, and supporting a friend’s Medicinal Mushrooms Conference and leading walks with the musician Cerys Matthews at her Good Life Experience festival in north Wales.
Roger, thank you so much for the books that helped and inspired me and many, many other foragers. You nurtured our interests and helped us grow, gave us great dishes, and put a name to so many fungi. We are indebted to you. Rest in peace.
