Message from Wales (Andy Harrett)

I first met John in 1973 when we were both new students in Aberystwyth on the west coast of Wales. He was very much his own person but also very friendly, interesting and full of ideas. He had chosen to live in a caravan in the middle of nowhere outside the town. The caravan had been stripped and furnished in a very individual way by John, something that he seemed to do wherever he lived. Very carefully designed to be comfortable without too much furniture, it was full of Buddhist and Taoist texts and a pair of massive speakers on which to play his music. He was very musical himself, owning a range of instruments that he played frequently. He seemed simultaneously, to my young self, quintessentially English in his manner and exotic and individualist in his tastes and interests. He also had a real talent for friendship with those that interested him.

John later moved into town and lived with me near the harbour in Aberystwyth. In those first years of knowing him we would spend many days together, talking endlessly while walking the coast paths and surrounding hills of the town and sharing books, food, coffee by the gallon and far too many cigarettes. I expect that many of us remember that as far as John was concerned, there was only one way to make coffee! Our geographical reach extended when he bought a motorbike and we would ride together to forgotten valleys and sit together by trees and streams. Always the conversation was good and wide ranging and we laughed a lot. But John was not just a friend for the good times. When life seemed tough and problems got me down, he was a calm and patient presence who always saw the best in me.

As the years went by John travelled widely, working in Africa, Japan, Sweden and Italy and Hong Kong, while I remained in Wales and settled in Cardiff. We always kept in touch and when he returned to Wales and stayed with our mutual friend Mike James, sometimes for long periods and sometimes just for a short break, it was always so easy to pick up with each other.

The two photos are from visits he made to South Wales 18 or 19 years ago and show him with me, my daughter Lizzie and my wife Paula on the beach at Penarth. That reminds me of another gift of John’s – he would talk to children with no condescension and win their respect and affection immediately.

We pass time with many people in life but there are some friendships – very few – through which we grow and which remain with us for ever. Having John as a friend has remained with me through life and he will continue to be an important part of me. I am so grateful to have known him.

Andrew Harrett