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too am shocked to hear of the death of
John Parkinson. I didn't know him
but his sister Jean was a teacher at
Prescot CofE primary and my parents knew
her and her husband Geoff well. A
couple of years ago when I was
researching the possibility of doing a
Master's in Law, I tried to obtain some
info from Bristol University. They
failed to reply to my requests despite
several attempts. I noticed John's
name on the faculty list and emailed him
apologetically citing the "old
school tie" and tenuous friendship
(through my parents). I received a
full reply with the info I needed and a
friendly message almost by return....My
sincere condolences to his family and
friends. [Sue Kay] |
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I
join others in expressing sadness on
hearing of 'Parky's' death and add to the
expressions of sympathy to his family.
My first recollection of him is from the
Autumn of 1966, the start of our first
year. He was a stalwart of the games
afternoon football left-overs. A whole
season ever-present. He had the skinniest
of untested white legs and impressively
knobbly knees. He wore his crisply-ironed
red Lambda shirt with pride and I'm sure
he never allowed it to be muddied or
crumpled.
Whereas I felt humiliated to be there he
seemed to revel with pride in the success
of avoiding all that awfully silly rough
stuff. He was happy to chat about
nonsense and always had that giggly smile
about his face.
He and I could not be described as
friends but were never unfriendly as we
all passed up through the years at PGS.
His intellect was tangible but he was
always modest and unassuming. The sense
of humour was similarly impossible not to
notice. I cannot remember him ever
appearing unhappy.
Some may remember the 'Irish Space
Program' article he co-wrote for the
Prescotian. I though it had been written
with Allan Jolley but Allan corrected me
a while ago. It was created with John
Rigby. The humour was silly farce and no
holds barred.
I, with others, went through a spell of
putting paper and magazine cuttings up in
room 19 during the Upper VIth. They were
annotated to refer to lads in the year.
They were meant as fun but some took
offence and pulled them down. One was a
colour photo of the Law Lords outside
Westminster in full regalia. I'd written
'Parky' with an arrow pointing at one of
them.
He just laughed when he saw it. Seems I
wasn't far out in the prediction.
Clearly as a respected academic lawyer he
is a great loss to the nation. More
importantly he will be a greater loss to
his family and friends. [Glyn Phillips] |
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I
was shocked to hear of another tragedy in
our ranks as it has yet again abruptly
reminded one of the fragility of life and
how quickly our lives pass.
In school John seemed never to be one who
craved the popularity of others and was
always extremely modest. Nevertheless,
many of us including myself often looked
up at John and his academic ability with
some awe, and accordingly, despite his
unassuming character, he generated a
great deal of respect. I do not once
remember John being bothered by any of
the more ‘ebullient’ characters
of the day.
I had the great fortune to meet up with
John again some 10 years ago at a
surprise 40th birthday party for Ronald
Padmore, where Ronald’s wife Anne
had ‘rounded up’ several old
school mates to join the celebration. I
was most impressed by John as an
‘adult’ and how he had
developed such a wonderful sense of
humour. It was a most entertaining
experience that I shall never forget, as
John the shy retiring schoolboy had been
replaced by a confident and witty adult
who held the attention of all who were
present.
I should like to express my sympathies to
all who were close to John and had the
pleasure and opportunity to know him much
better than myself. [Peter Smith] |
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