Background
She was born in Exeter, England and educated at Blundell"s School.
She was born in Exeter, England and educated at Blundell"s School.
She fell in love with radio at Exeter University, presenting on the uni"s own station URE She claimed her entire career had been an accident (having studied French and Philosophy) as it was the DJ on URE she fancied first, not the show. She made a life and a home in Wantage, Oxfordshire where the children attended the local schools and continue to live.
She was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2002. After a double mastectomy, radiation and chemotherapy she returned to her Afternoon Show on British Broadcasting Corporation Radio Oxford. She tackled it with her usual sense of humour, once joking to a doctor who needed to examine her that she didn"t take her clothes off for anything less than a couple of really good meals and a bunch of flowers.
Her breast cancer returned in February 2006, having metastasized to her lungs.
She retired from the British Broadcasting Corporation in January 2007. After a year at home, and bored with just waiting to die, she accidentally got freelance work at the then recently launched 106 Jack FM. She went full-time in September 2008.
Her diaries were featured in The Sunday Times on 27.6.2010 and The Independent on 1.7.2010. Member of Parliament Editor Vaizey also paid tribute to Ali in the House of Commons on 24.6.2010.
Her diaries are available in iTunes or via Podomatic (see AlisDiaries).
Alison Booker Chapman died on 1 July 2010, of breast cancer, aged 47, at Sobell House Hospice in Oxfordshire.