David, the founder of Estepona Golf, was born in South London to Barbara and Claude on 19th November 1929. By 1940, David and his older brother Bernard and younger sister Carol were living with their parents in Kent, where they had a box seat for the Battle of Britain. After leaving school, David completed his national service and embarked on a career in journalism. He met his first wife, Gillian, when they were both working for for the same magazine. In 1955, David and Gill celebrated the birth of their first son, Simon. Rory followed three years later, and in 1959 their family was made complete by the adoption of Yasmin (from Hong Kong) When David was in his late 20s he was made redundant by a large publishing house. At this point, he made the life-changing decision never to work for anyone other than himself again and went on to found the magazine Television Mail. During his early years of his professional independence, David and his children were to suffer bereavement when his wife Gillian died after a short illness. Two years later in 1965, David married Adrienne, a teacher at his childrens´ primary school, with whom he had Phillip and Samantha. In the early 1970s, the Leaders moved into a large country home, where they were to spend two happy decades of family life. Meanwhile, David diversified into property speculation, where he was to make…and lose!… his first fortune. By reapplying focus to his publishing business, David was able to brand Television Mail as Broadcast, a magazine he went on to sell for a large sum in the early 1980s. It was from the proceeds of this sale that he was able to fulfil his lifelong ambition of building his own golf course. Today, Estepona Golf is one of the Costa del Sol´s best loved courses, and is a testament to the passion and vision of its founder David Leader. In 1996, David was widowed for a second time when his wife Adrienne died after a long battle with cancer. David spent his last few years enjoying the golf course he created, and becoming a grandfather to James, Sophie and Katie. |
