Tribute to Peter Wildbur, 1927 - 2019.

Peter was an enthusiastic and popular member and instructor at the Southdown Gliding Club, near Storrington in West Sussex. I joined the club in 1983 and Peter was instructing at the time. He flew beautifully and shared a glider with his friend, Derek Eastell. I went to the French Alps with Peter ... probably around 1986 and we had some really excellent flying. Peter would visit the club regularly in his white Peugeot car and would stay for the Friday and Saturday evenings. We would have some great social time as well as some great flying. Those were really happy days for me, before I got almost too involved with the club. The wonderful stories of flights and retrieves from farmers fields are too numerous to list here, but fun was always had. I last spoke to Peter a few years ago, to inform him of the death of our then club President. He seemed well and we had a good chat. He was a top man and one of the last of the try gliding Gentlemen. Fly high Peter... you will be missed...

Peter was recruited to lecture on Graphic Design at the Sutton School of Art in the early 60s. He was quite unique, being the only one in the school who new what it was. He was a very good, patient and kind tutor and I was one of the lucky ones who benefited from his tuterledge. He used to turn up in a beautiful Citroen or a little Austin Healey Sprite, always spotless both would stand out in the car park consisting of rusting old wrecks, and that was just the staff. After my diploma course Peter very kindly offered me a place as his assistant at BDMW in Bloomsbury Place, an opportunity handed down from heaven and I exercised my incredible judgement and said no! Hellbent on doing a typography course I completed that and as luck would have it Peter offered me the job again, this time I snapped it up. Only when I started at BDMW did I realise what a high profiled and successful designer Peter was. His modest persona concealed his status in this new field of design. BDMW was one of the top design groups in the uk. I had a wonderful time working for him and met some fascinating, not to mention, strange individuals. Peter seemed very content in his world of design, flying gliders, music and running interesting cars. He never seemed moody and would bounce about the place with great enthusiasm singing ‘pom pom’ to himself. He was very appreciative to work with and incredibly polite and considerate. A wonderful glider pilot, Peter invited me down to Lasham and arranged for me to have a flight. Peter was up in the clouds and I didn’t see him, but a pilot with the thickest pebble glasses I have ever seen took me up in what looked like a converted shed with wings. We were towed up and I remember my instructor saying that he hoped the pilot towing knew what he was doing as otherwise he would kill us both. At 19 as you can imagine that was of little concern to me having thrashed down to Lasham in an ancient Renault held together with rust. After I left BDMW, a decision I would regret, Peter and I stayed in touch and met up many times. He always gave me sound advice. He came to my wedding and has been one of my longest standing friends. It was sad to see him at the end, but he maintained his unthusiasm for design and had many projects on the go, even if he had trouble remembering what they were. Always a very private person, it was lovely to see he had such a wonderful caring family of nieces and great nieces taking great care of him. I’m sure Peter would say he was very fortunate and had a long and wonderful life. I will always be thankful to Peter as one of the biggest influences and inspirations of my life. He showed it was possible to be very successful without brashness, narcissism or egotism. Neil Collins

Peter and I had similar interests and ideals certainly concerning design philosophy. I first met Peter in the early 1970’s when we were both teaching at the old Ravensbourne college at Bromley Common. Peter was one of the Group of 1951 at the Central School among his contemporaries were Ken Garland and Derek Birdsall. Peter was certainly one of the early pioneers of modern typographic design in Post War England. We shared a common interest in Information Design cuminating in our book and the Design Museum exhibition. Peter was certainly one of the last Gentleman Designers and will be sadly missed Michael Burke

I knew Peter as a friend and colleague, working on a graphic design and advertising course at West Thames College in West London. The excellent reputation which the course held with London’s top design and advertising companies was largely due to the work of an exceptional teaching team, amongst which Peter was very highly valued as an outstanding professional and as a good friend by both staff and our students. We also knew and admired his fine work in his graphic design practice outside college. I’ve thought a lot about Peter since receiving your letter, and, although I can’t be at the service on the 27th February, l, too, will be remembering again that quietly brilliant and kind man that I was lucky enough to know. Jim Cadle

Thank you for setting up this memorial to Peter. We hope that you find it a positive experience developing the site and that it becomes a place of comfort and inspiration for you to visit whenever you want or need to.

I am I and you are you, whatever we were to each other that we still are. Speak to me in the easy way which you always used. Why should I be out of mind because I am out of sight? Life means all that it ever meant, it is the same as it ever was.