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

Biography

Godfrey John was born and grew up in

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

. He served in the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

, and graduated from

Cambridge University , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

,"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 The first use of "light blue" as a color term in English is in the year 1915. In Russian and some other languages, there is no single word for blue, but rather different words for light blue (, goluboy) and dark blue (, siniy). The ancient Gree ...

", and was a British amateur

heavyweight Heavyweight is a weight class in combat sports and professional wrestling. Boxing Professional Boxers who weigh over are considered heavyweights by 3 of the 4 major professional boxing organizations: the International Boxing Federation, the Wo ...

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

Christian Science Monitor Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι� ...

''. 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 outreac ...

. He taught English at several colleges in the United States, and later worked as an arts critic for the ''Christian Science Monitor''. He became a public practitioner of Christian Science.Kim Shippey
"Writing...a kind of prayer"
''Christian Science Sentinel'' (September 19, 2005). 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 A probation and parole officer is an official appointed or sworn to investigate, report on, and supervise the conduct of convicted offenders on probation or those released from incarceration to community supervision such as parole. Most probati ...

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, West ...

'', 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 second book was written 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: Resolv ...

.Foreword, ''Compassion Wins,'' pp. v-vi. (2001) He is also published in a number of anthologies including ''Boundless Light: Poems of Healing''. 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 b ...

form.

References

External links

Writings of Godfrey John on Christian Science JSH-Online

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