Leonard Cooper (25 March 1934 – 29 November 2013) worked for numerous distinguished publishing houses before setting up his own independent publishing house, Leo Cooper Ltd, in 1968. Leo was educated at

Radley College Radley College, formally St Peter's College, Radley, is a public school (independent boarding school for boys) near Radley, Oxfordshire, England, which was founded in 1847. The school covers including playing fields, a golf course, a lake, an ...

where he took charge of the military band and distinguished himself on the

rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby league: 13 players per side *** Masters Rugby League *** Mod league *** Rugby league nines *** Rugby league sevens *** Touch (sport) *** Wheelchair rugby league ** Rugby union: 1 ...

and

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by str ...

fields. He was capped at cricket for the Yorkshire schoolboys; in later life he smashed Denis Compton for six with such vigour that he toppled a spectator sitting in a wheelchair into a nearby pond. His publishing business was based upon monumental works such as Lord Anglesey's eight-volume ''History of the

British Cavalry There are 13 Cavalry Regiments of the British Army each with its own unique cap badge, regimental traditions, and history. Of the currently nine regular cavalry regiments, two serve as armoured regiments, three as armoured cavalry regiments, thre ...

(1973-95)'' and the Famous Regiments series, he was always on the look out for what George Orwell called "unofficial history", such as Antonia Hunt's ''Little Resistance'' (1982), the extraordinary story of an English schoolgirl's experiences in German-occupied France. In 1970, Leo Cooper Ltd merged with the long-established firm of

Seeley, Service Seeley, Service was a British publishing firm. It was established in 1744

, which was in turn bought by

Frederick Warne Frederick Warne (13 October 1825 – 17 November 1901) was a British publisher, founder of Frederick Warne & Co. Early life and career Warne was born in Westminster in 1825, sixth and youngest son of the twelve children of Edmund Warne, a builder ...

in 1979 after the company went into receivership and then in 1982 he moved under the happier umbrella of

Secker & Warburg Harvill Secker is a British publishing company formed in 2005 from the merger of Secker & Warburg and the Harvill Press. History Secker & Warburg Secker & Warburg was formed in 1935 from a takeover of Martin Secker, which was in receivership, ...

, then part of the

Heinemann Heinemann may refer to: * Heinemann (surname) * Heinemann (publisher), a publishing company * Heinemann Park, a.k.a. Pelican Stadium in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States See also * Heineman * Jamie Hyneman James Franklin Hyneman (born Se ...

Group. In 1990 the firm was sold to the ''

Barnsley Chronicle The ''Barnsley Chronicle'', published in Barnsley, South Yorkshire, is one of the UK's oldest provincial newspapers and one of the few weeklies still in private ownership. It was launched in 1858 and celebrated its 150th anniversary in 2008. It i ...

'' and renamed

Pen & Sword Books Pen and Sword Books, also stylised as Pen & Sword, is a British publisher which specialises in printing and distributing books in both hardback and softback on military history, militaria and other niche subjects; factual non-fiction, primarily ...

Personal life

Leo married the author

Jilly Cooper Jilly Cooper, CBE (born 21 February 1937), is an English author. She began her career as a journalist and wrote numerous works of non-fiction before writing several romance novels, the first of which appeared in 1975. She is most famous for w ...

in 1961 following the break-up of his first marriage to Diana, his former housemaster's daughter. The couple had known each other since 1945 (when Jilly Sallitt was about eight), although they did not marry until she was 24 and he was 27. In the 1980s, the couple left Putney, London for The Chantry, an old manor house in Gloucestershire. The couple were unable to have children naturally so adopted two children. They also had five grandchildren. Cooper had an affair for several years with publisher Sarah Johnson, greatly disrupting the Coopers' marriage when this was revealed in 1990, though they got back together later. He was diagnosed with

Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a long-term degenerative disorder of the central nervous system that mainly affects the motor system. The symptoms usually emerge slowly, and as the disease worsens, non-motor symptoms becom ...

in 2001. His memoir, ''All My Friends Will Buy It'' ( Spellmount Publishers), was published in 2005.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cooper, Leo 1935 births 2013 deaths 20th-century British male writers People educated at Radley College British publishers (people) Honourable Artillery Company soldiers People with Parkinson's disease