No . 137 The Trusty Servant
aged 15 ; it changed my life . I gave John a copy of my recent book on Wolf , The Complete Songs of Hugo Wolf , from which a friend would choose a poem , find a recording and play it to John as he lay in his care home bed .
Richard Stokes , Professor of Lieder at the Royal Academy of Music
While teaching at Winchester in the 1970s I was late one morning getting the copy for an edition of The Wykehamist up to the printer in Winnall . When I got there the printer was dealing with another customer and by the time he was free I had ten minutes to run through the copy and get back in time for third hour . By the time I reached the garages off College Street I was already five minutes late . On negotiating a tight turn into my garage , I hit the wall . When the invoice for the repairs arrived from the Bursary , I realised I couldn ’ t pay it . I wrote to John asking if he could authorise payment in instalments . Within two hours He had sent me a cheque for the full amount with the following note : “ Here is a cheque for the invoice from the Bursary . And DON ’ T ARGUE !” I don ’ t know whether I was more grateful for the money or for the
HM with HM during the 6 th Centennial Celebrations , 1982 implication that I was capable of refusing it - a typical instance of his kindness and generosity .
Tommy Cookson ( I , 55-60 , CoRo 64- 65 , 67-72 , 74-83 , HoDo I , 83-90 , Headmaster , 03-05 )
John Thorn transformed and reset my life ’ s trajectory . In 1972 he appointed me Sen Co Prae , an honour and a life experience in itself ; he then went on to recommend me for the Morehead Scholarship to the University of North Carolina . The scholarship was created to attract candidates with leadership potential . John thought I might be a good choice to be Winchester ’ s first contender for this : over the years five more Wykehamists have come after me . Little did I know that it would lead to me staying in the USA , moving to Boston , starting a family and founding my own company . I remember when John asked Angus Watson to let him play the short but salient triangle part in the orchestra ’ s performance of the Prelude to Wagner ’ s Die Meistersinger . I was recruited to join him in the percussion section on the bass drum . When his cue came up , he stepped forward with his natural elegance and consummate dignity , held the triangle aloft , and struck it as if he was in that moment an accomplished soloist in his own triangle concerto .
David McCue ( G , 68-72 ) Founder of McCue Corporation , Fellow of Harvard University Advanced Leadership Initiative , Co-Founder of Women ’ s Chorus for the homeless in Boston
When I think back to my time at Winchester College , more than fifty years ago , a host of scenes reappear , and John is a central figure in many of them .
I see him in class , controlling the space with an easy authority , telling us that Byron ’ s long and hilarious poem Don Juan was ‘ a song of freedom ’ for his generation ; we did not think of teachers as having any understanding of freedom , never mind having songs about it , so this came as an enormous and intriguing surprise to us ; but the use of the unexpected was of course one of his great skills as a teacher .
In another scene I see him striding vigorously across Flint Court , elegant in his dark suit , with his mysterious smile and a floral scent floating behind him in an exotic slipstream . That was John in all his glamour .
I also think of less public scenes : John in his office , discussing with me and my friends the ideas that obsessed us - ‘ peace and love ’ of course - this was the late 1960s - but also less nebulous ideals such as community , ecology , and alternatives to the destructive ways of the capitalist / industrial system . He never dismissed our opinions , but listened and responded with a friendly , open and well-informed mind .
We did not know it at the time , but he was one of the most advanced educational thinkers of his day , who believed in harnessing the creative urges of the young to the cause of learning and the development of character . I saw this in action , and experienced it all around me . It proved a superbly effective defence against the dangerous illusions of youth culture and its love-affair with drugs .
I also remember from those distant days the thrilling informality of sitting with John and his wife Veronica in their kitchen , laughing and sharing thoughts like old friends . Veronica ’ s quickness of sympathy and enthusiasm vaporised inhibitions at once . John clearly adored her . What a marvellous example they gave to us all of the joy of a happy marriage !
I do not know what it cost him to be a public figure . He clearly enjoyed the responsibility of the job - but I felt from the moment I met him that this was an unusually sensitive man who had learned to channel and balance the energies of a passionate soul .
Alex Martin ( K , 69-73 )
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