Araucaria tributes

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Today we attended what was, according to his own wishes, a quiet, low-key burial service for John Graham. A memorial service, for a wider congregation, will take place on Saturday 4th January in Somersham.

I took the liberty of copying and formatting the entire thread of messages on this site in response to the announcement of his death, so that his family could fully appreciate the moving, spontaneous expression of love and admiration for someone that many people had not even met in person but who meant so much to them. It ran to 10 two-column pages of A4.

The only editing I did was to run a spell-checker over it, so that hasty typos were corrected (and remove one paragraph which I took to be a reference to such typos). The timeline is shown, as are posters’ sobriquets (good word, that eh?).

Family members and his close neighbours were very appreciative, and I hope everyone who posted is happy that their sentiments were passed on.

If people want it, I will arrange for the PDF to be available.

4 comments on “Araucaria tributes”

  1. Thank you, Jane, for such a beautiful and kind thought in passing on our tributes for the family and friends of this wonderful man. He will be so sadly missed, but he has inspired and given pleasure to thousands.

  2. Thank you Jane, I’m sure that your thoughtfulness will be appreciated by all those who submitted tributes as well as by the Rev. Graham’s family.
    I am also pleased to know that the crossword world was represented at the funeral by a setter who, if not inheriting Araucaria’s mantle, carries on his tradition of giving pleasure and challenge to solvers through witty and erudite puzzles.
    George

  3. BLESS you, Jane –

    I’m breathing a sigh of relief that the heartfelt messages of love and regret could and did reach his family and friends.
    They consoled and moved me immensely.
    Sincere thanks.
    (I’d very much appreciate the PDF – if it isn’t too selfish to request yet another labour of love?)
    You’re both in my thoughts,
    sue xxx

  4. Many thanks Jetdoc (Jane) for your thoughtful effort.
    I too would appreciate availability of the pdf,
    best wishes, Alan

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