John Frederick James Douglas (5 Dec 1929 - 17 Sep 2017)

(Tribute read at the funeral)
My association with John began when I joined the Becket 6th Form and he was Deputy head and my geography teacher. As teacher and as a Deputy Head he was held in absolute respect by all the students. You knew what you were getting with John – he knew his subject inside out and was a highly skilled educator. And his door was always open - if you wanted to learn more, he was happy to give you more; if you needed help with your further education choices, he was happy to advise (and it was advice well worth having). Perhaps most importantly, he was never condescending towards students and always treated them as young adults. He often commented to me later on that, as a teacher, it was important to appreciate that your students could easily be more intelligent than you. They maybe didn’t have the knowledge yet, but he always had great respect for their aptitude and potential – and he did what he could to ensure it developed.

For those that didn’t know, John’s interest in the world and geography wasn’t limited to his time as a teacher of the subject. He established a photographic library, Geoslides back in the 1960s, which he ran in the evenings and at weekends, supplying his own photography mainly to publishers of geography text books and travel guide books.

He was also a writer and used the long summer holiday from teaching as an opportunity to travel to many countries around the world (at least 30 to my knowledge – probably more), on various ‘expeditions’ to build up the photo library and carry out research for magazine articles and the occasional book. The books included 3 travel guides – two on North Norway and one on Malawi, which we wrote together. It was these two, very different areas of the world that were his favourites – Scandinavia and sub-Saharan Africa. He visited the former many times, mostly wild-camping his way to and around the Norwegian Arctic Circle. And over the years, he managed to visit pretty much every country in sub-Saharan Africa.

As a traveller, he was always interested in what every country had to offer, culturally and naturally, and took great pleasure in continuing to learn all about everywhere he visited. He may not have immersed himself in local culture - sticking to his meat and 3 veg meals and either staying in luxury hotels with all-mod-cons or being self-sufficient when camping. He wasn’t interested in mid-range, local hotels – just the luxury or the simplicity. But he always respected and showed great interest in the countries he visited. And he wanted to share that knowledge – not only through his articles and books, but also through regular talks and slide shows, which were always engaging and very well received by his audiences. He had great skills as an educator, orator and story-teller which he enjoyed using as often as he could. He very much enjoyed the adventure of travel, often looking to add it in where it wasn’t immediately apparent. We travelled round Scandinavia together a few times, mostly camping in the wild, but when necessary, using small hotels for the odd overnight stay. In those instances, to keep in budget in Norway, a decidedly expensive country, we would smuggle kit bags full of the camping cooking gear and food past the reception and into our room, and set up a camp kitchen for dinner - usually in the bathroom, covering over the smoke alarms where necessary. Ever the archetypal ‘English Gent’, our camping dinners were, of course, always 3 courses – soup, main & dessert, plus wine - a box of wine smuggled from the UK in a hidden compartment in the Land Rover.

In 1999 John and I began working with Malawi, helping them to market their emerging tourist industry. It was the first time they had been marketed internationally and the relationships that John initiated with members of the country’s tourist industry remain to this day. John had a love and passion for the country that made him want to help it develop, using tourism as an engine of economic change, and to tell the world about its natural riches. It was this approach, rather than looking for any immediate benefit for himself, that helped establish the work that continues to this day. Malawi’s tourism is going from strength to strength on the back of what John started nearly 20 years ago – taking on a country in Africa at a time when communication was all by telephone, post and fax, not email!

John was someone who was serious and professional when he needed to be, but also always on the lookout for anything to make him and those around him smile and laugh – often with mischief involved. It really amused John, and brought numerous smiles and comments, when he came up with the idea of putting a ‘health and safety’ notice alongside the bowl of Malawi nuts we used to put out on our stands at travel shows. The notice read: ‘Warning: May contain nuts’!

He always like to present an image of being someone with ‘status’, and with his military bearing, pulled it off most of the time. I remember him visiting me in hospital once when I was in the 6th Form, smartly dressed, upright and well spoken as always. He asked the nurse on the ward which bed I was in and she immediately gave him my medical notes - assuming him to be a consultant! Thankfully, he resisted the temptation to insist on a change in my treatment. Oh, and he was the only one of my teachers who visited me during my weeks in QMC.

But he was also quite happy to tell stories against himself – of moments of embarrassment or mis-understanding - so long as they had a funny punch line that could bring a laugh. One that I heard him tell a few times, and was there to verify (bar a few entertaining embellishments, of course) was when he stood outside a post office in Finland. Having never quite been able to work out what ‘In’ and ‘Out’ were in Finnish, and being someone who almost without fail pulled a door that should be pushed, and vice versa, John decided to hang back from the array of doors in front of him until someone else entered. Thus, he confidently followed close behind a young Finnish lady as she pushed open the middle door, only to find himself moments later squeezed next to her in a phone booth that was actually built in to the Post Office entrance. Fortunately, it also had an onward door through into the main part of the Post Office, so he was able to make a fast exit before charges were pressed.

John was a person who loved to give and share knowledge, and was, without doubt, the most skilled person I’ve ever known at doing so. Not only through his teaching, but also through his other work – telling people about the beauties of Malawi, writing articles about little known places around the world, and showing images of them.

And I’m happy to say that, after 25 years of working with him, when I close my eyes now to think of John, my overwhelming image is one of him with a smile on his face and trying to get those around him to laugh.

Growing up as the oldest niece of Uncle John was an interesting experience. Although, because what you grow up with is "normal", I just assumed that everybody had an uncle who went wild camping in Norway, flew over glaciers taking pictures & led expeditions into the Arctic. After all, that's what uncles do, isn't it?
As a young girl, I was a bit scared of Uncle John. You never quite knew what he was going to do next and I was never 100% sure when he was joking or serious. It wasn't until I got to know him better as an adult that I realised his sense of humour was never far below the surface.
John always had plenty of amusing anecdotes. I'm amazed that despite visiting him for several years after his stroke, he never ran out of stories - and very rarely repeated himself. It was a joy to listen to him. His memory for names and details from the past was impressive and it's telling that his stories nearly always revolved around people. He cared about people and he cared about making a difference in their lives. From the other comments here, it's obvious that he had a positive influence on many people - just as he did on me. John was an inspiring person to know and I'm blessed to have been able to call him my Uncle John.

Mr Douglas” set a standard from the first time I saw him (at The Becket in the late 1950s). He was - and always was - immaculately dressed. This was the outward appearance of a man who, in my experience of him as a pupil at The Becket, was dedicated and meticulous in all that he did. This characteristic was never more obvious than in his approach to the Becket Athletics Team, which, on occasion, took on the best both in the county and, as individuals, in the country. A seemingly simple example of this was that, by 8.30am on the morning after each of our athletics meetings with other schools or clubs, from which we would often arrive back at school after 7.00pm, there would be a list (typed by JD) publishing the full details of the individual results of every event from the evening before, including position and times/distances/heights etc, plus annotation of a school record, county or national standard where appropriate. We all benefited from this dedication and I shall remember him always as a man who was respected by both pupils and teachers alike.

An inspiring teacher, athletics coach, and a true gentleman. Even though our paths had not crossed for many years, I am saddened by his parting. I have many cherished memories of John and the athletics teams of the 1960's.

You will always be my favourite hello and hardest goodbye ❤️

John, a dear friend, teacher and travelling companion, a gentleman with a brilliant sense of humour, will be sadly missed.

Rest in peace JD. You were a great teacher at the Becket and a true gentleman.