HEARTFELT THANKS

My mother, who taught me so much in her short life:  above all, of love and joie-de-vie.  She shared and awoke in me passions too numerous to count, including nature, history, the thrill of a good book and a story well-told; curiosity in all things; love of the familiar as well as the new;  a great care for words; an abiding affection for bridges, old buildings and tools; music, the English landscape...  for Dickens and Dumas, Gerald Durrell and Gerard Manley Hopkins. Picture links to more...

Denis Matthews taught at St. Christopher's School, Gibraltar, where I was blessed with the great good fortune to be in his class for two years.  Young and brilliant, sparkling and inspired - a deeply gifted teacher, he fired and inspired us to learn for ourselves. 

 'Sir' took me seriously. He was cheerful, kind, dedicated, loyal and generous. After forty years it was my great delight to visit him again in Gibraltar.

Neither of us had forgotten the other. 

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Sibyl Hollins taught French at Fareham Girls' Grammar School. Her piercing intellect joined a great heart and profound wisdom to illuminate my life. Her kindness and her scholarship were extraordinary.  

Sibyl always had a twinkle in her eye. 

Becoming a cherished friend, in the knowledge of her approaching death some twenty years later, Sibyl wrote to me her touchstone article of faith: ‘Whatever love you have received, pass it on.’   ~ a lesson she lived to the full. Picture links to more...

K. Bradford Brown: a man ablaze with passion for Life. Teacher, inspiration and guide, Brad used his gifts of intellect and empathy to change countless lives, mine included. Co-Founder of Kairos Fdtn's More To Life program, Brad embodied the shining vision of Pierre Teilhard De Chardin:  ‘Some day, after we have mastered the winds, the waves, the tides and gravity,  we shall harness for God the energies of love. Then, for the second time in… history, man will have discovered fire.'  Picture link