Robert (Bobby) Thompson, 23rd November 1940 – 5th September 2023: A Personal Tribute

Like the whole skating world, I was deeply saddened to hear of the death of Bobby Thompson earlier this month; although unlike the countless skaters he helped during his long, illustrious career as an international coach, or as a friend and mentor, I only knew Bobby indirectly.

Our first ‘meeting’ was through the words of his life-partner, unbeaten four-times World Champion ice dancer and fashion designer Courtney Jones OBE, whose amazing autobiography. Around the Ice in Eighty Years: An Irreverent Memoir by an Accidental Champion, I was fortunate enough to edit and publish in 2021. I was struck by Courtney’s story of Bobby’s courage and determination to skate despite opposition from his staunchly footballing family, who considered it an unmanly pastime – and delighted that he achieved great success notwithstanding, including coaching the Italian and Japanese National Ice Dance teams, and subsequent appointment as National Ice Dance Coach to Britain’s then National Skating Association.

Bobby also faced and overcame challenges in his personal life caused by homophobia and the repressive legislation of the 1960s. He and Courtney were obliged to be very discreet when they began living together, first in a studio flat above Queens Ice Club, and later in a series of homes around London, transformed into mini-mansions by their cultured tastes and flair for interior design; and even after they were free to ‘come out,’ still sometimes experienced prejudice among the skating ‘old guard’ when accompanying Courtney to functions. The success of the latter’s post-skating career as a fashion designer/lecturer and international judge/referee gave them a high-profile, jet-setting lifestyle they could enjoy together when attending the same events, but equally gave long periods of separation to be endured until they both retired fully and moved to Spain’s Costa del Sol.

Bobby (left) with Courtney (right) and friend Diane Towler on a visit to Spain

Keen to learn more and understand Bobby better as I edited, I watched several TV interviews in which he invariably came over as relaxed, charming, urbane and humorous; so it was something of a shock to learn that he loathed appearing on camera, to the point where Courtney had to exert all his persuasive powers to coax him to the screen during one of our rare Zoom meetings – making that single brief contact even more of a gift and a memory to treasure. Bobby came over exactly as I’d seen him on TV, looking hale and hearty at 80, barely a day older than in his interviews, and his interactions with Courtney were as finely-honed and funny as Morecambe & Wise, the kind of banter only a lifelong intimacy can generate, and the love that had drawn and kept them together for 60 years plain to see.

With typical modesty, Bobby refused any formal recognition as co-creator of An Irreverent Memoir despite being at Courtney’s side throughout, prompting reminiscences and reading/correcting the text – not even a paltry ‘with’ for his moving memoir of close friend John Curry – and only by a last-minute change of heart was I allowed to un-crop him from the photo used on the back cover.

Unfortunately, Covid backlogs scuppered any prospect of publication by a mainstream publisher, just as lockdown restrictions prevented even such local launch events as my Herstory imprint could offer; then, sadly, Bobby fell ill before the excellent book he helped to produce received the success it deserves. So it would be a fitting tribute, and perhaps some crumb of consolation to Courtney in the painful loss of his beloved companion, if Bobby’s story and the contribution in his own words could posthumously reach a wider audience.

If you’d like to read their incredible story, (also featuring contributions from friends Robin Cousins, Christopher Dean and Jayne Torvill), you can pick up a copy at British Ice Skating events, where a percentage of sales goes to support BIS; a percentage from copies sold through other outlets goes to Henry’s Haven Cat Rescue (like Courtney, Bobby was a passionate cat-lover).  

RIP, Bobby – though I knew you so little, I’ll never forget. x

https://www.ypdbooks.com/biography/2004-around-the-ice-in-eighty-years-an-irreverent-memoir-by-an-accidental-champion.html

https://www.ypdbooks.com/biography/2029-special-book-pack-around-the-ice-in-eighty-years-henry-wowler-the-mirror-cat-.html

Book Review: Around the Ice in Eighty Years

Front cover: a three-year-old Courtney takes his first steps on ice at Bournemouth’s Westover Ice Rink

AROUND THE ICE IN EIGHTY YEARS: AN IRREVERENT MEMOIR BY AN ACCIDENTAL CHAMPION

by Courtney Jones OBE, with contributions from Christopher Dean and Jayne Torvill, Robin Cousins and Bobby Thompson

Compiled and edited by Helen Cox

Published in 2021 by Herstory Writing/York Publishing Services

ISBN: 978-0-9928514-3-9

Paperback, 208 pages, 37 b & w photos

RRP £9.99

Available 9/12/21 from YPD Books

This review – like Around the Ice itself – has come about by one of the lucky flukes that so mark the career of ice-dance legend Courtney Jones. You can read the full tale in the ‘Acknowledgements and Gracias’ section of his book; meanwhile, suffice to say that over the past twelve months I’ve gone from giving him odd tips on style and presentation to compiling, editing, and publishing his extraordinary memoir – a unique privilege, and a completely unexpected coup for Herstory Writing, my modest self-publishing venture.

Around the Ice in Eighty Years is a great nostalgia trip for anyone who remembers the Fifties and Sixties, and an enjoyable lesson in social and sporting history for those who don’t. Courtney aimed to tell his story in the style of his hero Alan Bennett, and succeeds remarkably well considering that he’d barely touched a keyboard let alone attempted a writing project of such magnitude before. Easy to read and instantly engrossing – I can still enjoy reading it at any point, despite being so familiar with the text – Around the Ice is interesting and informative, sometimes hilarious, sometimes moving, frequently stranger than fiction, and always entertaining, (my favourite anecdote is Courtney going into Harrods for a pair of socks and coming out with a gay Siamese kitten, closely followed by ‘Lunch With The Queen’).

A slim volume compared with, say, Bill Clinton’s brick-thick My Life, Around the Ice nonetheless covers everything essential to understand Courtney’s story and the unique nature of his achievements. The first six chapters follow a conventional narrative path from his birth in 1933 to creatively gifted parents who always recognised and nurtured their only child’s talents, through his idyllic early childhood of playing the piano and ice-skating with his teddy-bear, the terrifying interruption of World War Two when he was aged six, his later schooling, and the teenage passion for ballroom dancing which, translated to ice, would turn him into an ‘accidental champion’ of global renown. Further flukes led to his training under ‘the doyenne of coaches’ Miss Gladys Hogg, and introduction to not just one but two perfect ice partners. The experienced and confident June Markham guided a novice Courtney to second place at the 1957 British and 1958 European Ice-Dance Championships within a few months of their meeting, topped the podium with him at the subsequent World Championships, and stayed there until her retirement from competitive skating after holding their World title in 1959. Against all the odds, Courtney then retained all three crowns for another two years with a new partner, the accomplished figure skater Doreen Denny – an astonishing feat given that she had never previously skated with a partner, knew none of the Compulsory Dances, and only had six months to learn everything from scratch before helping Courtney to defend his British title in late 1959!

Courtney and Doreen had planned to retire after the 1961 World Championships – hopefully still unbeaten – to pursue their respective careers in fashion design and coaching. However, their skating career came to a tragically premature end when this event was cancelled due to the devastating loss of the entire United States figure skating team in an air crash disaster. Chapter 5 describes Courtney’s farewell to ice later that year in a special final performance he and Doreen filmed for the BBC, and Chapter 6 relates his slog up the rungs of the fashion industry from lowly pattern-cutter to London College of Fashion lecturer, designer of the British team uniforms for the 1984 Winter Olympics, and creator of iconic costumes for his good friends Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean. (He still has the wooden spoon they used to stir the purple dye for ‘Bolero,’ pictured on Page 188!).

Chapters 7 – 11 take a more thematic approach, covering aspects of Courtney’s parallel career as a skating judge, referee, and long-serving member on the boards of national and international ice-skating governing bodies. His friendships with the great, good, and not-so-good feature prominently, along with the many fundraisers and major events he helped to organize, his passionate advocacy of the traditional pathway to skating success, his globetrotting with and without his partner of sixty years, Robert ‘Bobby’ Thompson, and the beautiful homes, ‘thirty rooms short of a mansion’ they created together in London and Spain. Chapter 12, ‘Creating a Winning Performance’ is primarily aimed at aspiring champion skaters and their teachers, but is nonetheless interesting even to a non-skater like me; and the final two chapters on Britain’s last Olympic ice champions John Curry, Robin Cousins, Christopher Dean and Jayne Torvill, (featuring personal contributions from the latter three, who have also provided the Afterword and Foreword respectively), round the story off in suitably inspiring fashion.

Courtney and I then share a final word in thanking the many people who helped bring to fruition what he generously describes as ‘our book,’ primarily our small editorial team of Elaine Hooper, Heather Jones, and Peter Morrissey. Whether or not it sells well, I feel we can be justly proud of Around the Ice in Eighty Years – a book I’d be glad to find in my own Christmas stocking, and a must-read for all skating fans and skaters, especially anyone who remembers being judged or coached by Courtney or Bobby. If you buy a copy – it’s available to pre-order now on www.ypdbooks.com – I hope you’ll agree, and enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed editing it!