Godfrey John, C.S.B., was a poet, writer, lecturer, and teacher.

Biography

Godfrey John was born and grew up in

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

. He served in the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

, and graduated from

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

,"Christian Science Lecture Scheduled for Monday"
''Ludington Daily News'', Ludington, Michigan (June 13, 1991). Retrieved November 19, 2013 where he was boxing team captain and a "

light blue Light blue is a color or range of colors, typically a lightened shade with a hue between cyan and blue. The first use of "light blue" as a color term in English language, English is in the year 1915. In Russian and some other languages, there ...

", and was a British amateur

heavyweight Heavyweight is a weight class in combat sports and professional wrestling. Boxing Professional Male boxers who weigh over are considered heavyweights by 2 of the 4 major professional boxing organizations: the International Boxing Federation an ...

boxing champion. For more than 40 years, poems and essays by John were published in the ''

Christian Science Monitor ''The Christian Science Monitor'' (''CSM''), commonly known as ''The Monitor'', is a nonprofit news organization that publishes daily articles both in electronic format and a weekly print edition. It was founded in 1908 as a daily newspaper b ...

''. Godfrey John moved to the United States in 1958, where he lived and worked and received a first award from the

Academy of American Poets The Academy of American Poets is a national, member-supported organization that promotes poets and the art of poetry. The nonprofit organization was incorporated in the state of New York in 1934. It fosters the readership of poetry through outrea ...

. He was a professor of English at several colleges in the United States, including

Principia College Principia College is a private liberal arts college in Elsah, Illinois. It was founded in 1912 by Mary Kimball Morgan with the purpose of "serving the Cause of Christian Science." Morgan wrote in her book, Education at the Principia that, "Alt ...

, and later worked as an arts critic for the ''Christian Science Monitor''. He became a public practitioner of Christian Science.Kim Shippey (September 19, 2005)
"Writing... a kind of prayer"
''The Christian Science Sentinel''. Retrieved November 19, 2013 In 1970, he moved to Canada, where he became a dual citizen (Canadian and British). In Canada, he also became a Christian Science teacher and served briefly on the Christian Science Board of Lectureship. For many years he was also active as a voluntary probation and parole officer. He had two children with his wife Rosalind, and lived in Toronto.

Publications

Godfrey John was widely published in the Christian Science periodicals, including the ''

Monitor Monitor or monitor may refer to: Places * Monitor, Alberta * Monitor, Indiana, town in the United States * Monitor, Kentucky * Monitor, Oregon, unincorporated community in the United States * Monitor, Washington * Monitor, Logan County, Wes ...

'', for over 40 years. He published a collection of poems and essays in the books ''Five Seasons'' (Foursquare Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1977) and ''Compassion Wins'' (Thomson-Shore, Inc., Dexter, Michigan, 2001). The foreword of his first book was written by

Henrietta Buckmaster Henrietta Delancey Henkle (March 10, 1909 – April 26, 1983), better known by her pen name Henrietta Buckmaster, was an activist, journalist, and author best known for writing historical studies and novels. She was also active in the civil right ...

, and the second by

Rushworth Kidder Rushworth Moulton Kidder (May 8, 1944 – March 5, 2012) was an American author, ethicist, and professor. Kidder founded the Institute for Global Ethics in 1990, and is the author of ''Moral Courage'' and ''How Good People Make Tough Choices: Reso ...

. He is also published in a number of anthologies including ''Boundless Light: Poems of Healing''.''Boundless Light: Poems of Healing''. Boston: CSPS. p. 120. Some of his poems are in the Welsh

cywydd The cywydd (; plural ) is one of the most important metrical forms in traditional Welsh poetry ( cerdd dafod). There are a variety of forms of the cywydd, but the word on its own is generally used to refer to the ("long-lined couplet") as it is ...

form.

References

External links

Writings of Godfrey John on Christian Science JSH-Online

{{DEFAULTSORT:John, Godfrey Welsh poets British Christian Scientists Poets from Toronto Alumni of the University of Cambridge Welsh emigrants to Canada The Christian Science Monitor people Canadian Christian Scientists Canadian male poets Principia College faculty