SENIOR COMMON ROOM studio space in his garage. By his own efforts and with the help of his many friends, John lived a very active life and travelled widely. He visited his sister and her family in New Zealand, enjoying the flesh-pots of Hong Kong on the way. He toured the Outer Hebrides last summer and last January took himself off to Northumberland because he wanted to paint and draw views of Hadrian's Wall in winter light. He used public transport and picked up bed and breakfast and self-catering accommodation as he went. This enabled him to meet and mix with local people — he always enjoyed a 'natter' in a country pub. John was generous and gregarious and he loved to entertain his friends. Less than a fortnight before he died, four of us were invited to dinner, one which he had prepared himself. This was a convivial evening, at which there was much reminiscing; an evening that will remain vivid in the memory. Above all John had a sense of humour, often quirky, and he could be outspoken. His sense of humour was never more shown than when he was talking about his family. He was extremely proud of his children and his grandchildren, and their achievements. One of his stories concerned the birth of his son, Charles. He liked to recount that in the nursing home it suddenly struck him that his sister had become 'Charley's Aunt'! Another story, or 'yarn' as he preferred to call it, was about a family camping holiday in the Scottish Highlands. He and Peggy were approached by the local farmer who asked whether their children could have cut off the water supply. " N o " , said John, but when he and Peggy accompanied the farmer to the stream they found that all three children were happily building a dam which was diverting water from the pipe feeding both the farm and the local village!
John Brown
We were all saddened by the news of John's death, in June of this year. Keith Coulthard, who gave the address at John's funeral, writes: John served the school unstintingly for thirty-five years, until his unfortunate forced retirement in September, 1991. His service to the school was fittingly covered by others in the 1991-1992 issue of the Peterite. I would like to concentrate on the three-and-a-half years of retirement fully used and enjoyed by John and on the man himself. Though his stroke was a bitter blow to John, he showed no resentment about the early retirement which followed, though he was still in the full flow of his creative work, teaching and encouraging his pupils and planning ahead as always. Despite the loss of real control over his dominant right hand, by sheer determination he taught himself to use his left hand. Indeed, while still a patient in York District Hospital, he was producing portraits of other patients, much to their delight. We are fortunate in having his oil painting of a remote part of the west coast of the island of Lewis. John had not been there, but he interpreted a photograph of the coast and fully captured the atmosphere and movement — all with his left hand. Until a few days before his death John continued to use his gifts to the full. Sculpture was his first love and, in his garage, there stood an incomplete model of a horse, with two riders, which he had spent many contented (and some frustrated!) hours building and rebuilding. He was always the perfectionist and his own severest critic.
Though John's death is a blow to us all, its suddenness meant that he was able to use his gifts to the end. He leaves
His three-and-a-half years of retirement have been full and busy ones. To his regret he could no longer drive, but the loss of his car at least gave him additional valuable 20
