Is author John Seymour still with us?

Subject: Is John Seymour still with us?
From: GUEST,Ooh- Aah
Date: 06 Feb 04 - 04:30 PM

I'm curious to know if one of my heroes, John Seymour, author of The Fat of the Land and The Complete book of Self-Sufficiency, is still alive and well - the last I heard he was in his mid eighties and living in Co Wexford in Ireland. Does anyone know?

Subject: RE: Is John Seymour still with us?
From: Walking Eagle
Date: 07 Feb 04 - 12:03 AM

Try posting this on the Where Are They Now thread. I'm trying to get folks to check it for onfo on performers that have dropped out of sight.

Subject: RE: Is John Seymour still with us?
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 07 Feb 04 - 05:10 PM

Here's a link to a page from Resurgence magazine, with an article by John, and his address at the bottom:

"John Seymour, now in his eighties, has been a champion of " self-sufficiency" and " back to the land" . He is the author of many books. Now he teaches courses in rural skills at his smallholding. For further information about these courses please write to John Seymour, Killowen, New Ross, Co. Wexford, Ireland (Tel: [phone])".

And here's a taster from the article ("...one man's manifesto to restore and heal the planet"):

THE AGE OF PLUNDER is nearly at an end.
The Age of Healing is ready to be born.
And whether it arrives or not depends upon two people: you and me.

The Age of Plunder was the natural successor to the so-called Age of Reason: the Age in which humankind decided that it knew better than God. For 200 years now the greedy and ruthless have been plundering the planet but their time will soon be up. The whole thing is going to come crashing down.

Subject: RE: Is John Seymour still with us?
From: Ooh-Aah2
Date: 21 Oct 04 - 02:10 AM

Alas he is no longer. He died on the 14th of September, and was buried in blankets made from the wool of his own sheep. I have been reading obituaries in the Times and the Guardian - what a man! What a life! He had a great innings (90) but I am terribly sad that he has gone. At the age of 85 he was destroying Monsanto GM sugar beet,by night and airly saying the fairies must have done it. When asked if fairies wore large boots he replied that they must haver been in disguise! The world is a poorer place.

Subject: RE: Is John Seymour still with us?
From: Gervase
Date: 21 Oct 04 - 08:13 AM

Aye, a remarkable man, and a keen singer, too. His books have been hugely influential on me - so much so that I'm now sitting in West Wales restoring an old ruin and contemplatingthe six-acre life!

Subject: RE: Is John Seymour still with us?
From: GUEST
Date: 21 Oct 04 - 11:28 PM

Is it Seymour Butts, "Under the Grandstands" that you are seeking?

Subject: RE: Is John Seymour still with us?
From: Ooh-Aah2
Date: 23 Oct 04 - 07:53 AM

No.

Subject: RE: Is John Seymour still with us?
From: sian, west wales
Date: 23 Oct 04 - 04:55 PM

Yeh, remember going to his place in the Preselis back in 1981. Quite a raconteur along with everything else.

So Gervase - where are you restoring this old place?

sian

Subject: RE: Is John Seymour still with us?
From: Gervase
Date: 12 Nov 04 - 12:10 PM

Not far from the Preselis - on the edge of the village of Ferwig just outside Cardigan. Today (and tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow...) I shall mainly be mixing and applying lime plaster. I've got 11 tonnes of the stuff to get through before the place is fully fettled, and then there's the floors and the sash window to fit, and then the barns and then...
It's a labour of love, though, and I'm loving every minute of being here. The people are fantastic, the countryside is stunning and I've not one regret about moving here (save for the absence of a folk club within staggering distance maybe!).

Subject: RE: Is John Seymour still with us?
From: The Sandman
Date: 18 Aug 09 - 02:11 PM

his books are interesting,but clearly written by somebody who has not actually done a lot of the things he preaches, however his articles on drainage,are very good.

Subject: RE: Is John Seymour still with us?
From: GUEST,Jon Dudley
Date: 19 Aug 09 - 02:33 AM

John Seymour was a quite remarkable man and we had the great privilege of meeting him. Having seen that he was to be guest speaker at the South of England Self Sufficiency Fair at Ardingly we decided to take my dear old father-in-law Bob Copper along to meet him. Bob and his late wife had read and enjoyed his 'Self Sufficiency' and 'Fat of The Land' and also his masterly opinionated guide to Britain. The meeting was memorable - Seymour closed the show with a speech for which his prepared notes had disappeared, and all the better for that. As soon as it had finished we repaired to the real ale caravan, the contents of which were almost depleted. No matter, Seymour, Bob and us assisted it's total consumption with the barman in exasperation filling up the two old boys glasses with the ullage collected throughout the day. Seymour decided that it was far too late to go back to London where he'd been staying and came down to spend the night with us. I wish I could have recorded the wide-ranging conversation between those two. Both had met briefly at the BBC back in the mid fifties and had friends in common, Seamus Ennis, Jack Dillon, Bill Fraser and others from those days and the stories simply flowed. Both men were superb raconteurs and continuously 'out raconted' each other! The night galloped along nicely and Seymour lodged with Bob at whose home the drinking and reminiscing continued. Next day Bob came down to see us with the following tale.
"You know John stayed over last night?"
"Yes"
"Well he left pretty early this morning to get back to London"
"Yes"
"And he left these behind..." at this point Bob produced a pair of the most disreputable shoes imaginable. "and what's more more, you know those nice Church's brogues of mine?"Yes"
"I can't find 'em anywhere"
Later that day Bob received a phone call from John -
"Is that you Bob?"
"Yes"
"Bob, have you ever thought you were standing in someone else's shoes?...."

Subsequently Bob spent some time with John over in County Wexford and subsequently wrote up the experience in a short and hilarious monograph 'The Irish Papers'. The two of them, both in their late seventies had the time of their lives singing drinking sailing and fishing the River Barrow. One evening John produced a battered old melodeon and commenced singing some familiar East Anglian songs. Bob remarked that he knew them from the renowned Bargeman Bob Roberts...
"That's where I learnt them" said John, "and this is his instrument. Bob was dear friend and I sailed on the Cambria with him many times"...and I guess that prompted at least another hour's reminiscing.

Subject: RE: Is John Seymour still with us?
From: Mrs_Annie
Date: 19 Aug 09 - 03:53 PM

What a lovely story, John.

I too enjoyed the 'Self Sufficiency' book way back when and dreamed of following in his footsteps.

Subject: RE: Is author John Seymour still with us?
From: GUEST,Carningli Press
Date: 16 Jun 10 - 07:18 AM

Great story from Jon.

Seymour was my father-in-law and I can well imagine that evening.
He was always up for a spontaneous party involving drink, song and probably a dance on the table. We miss him. We had his 90th party here in the summer of 2004 and Bob Robert's wife Sheila drove all the way across Britain to be here. John died in September 2004 here in Pembrokeshire and is buried in our top field overlooking Carningli.
Have a look at our website for all things Seymour, he was a very inspirational man.

www.carninglipress.co.uk

Subject: RE: Is author John Seymour still with us?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 16 Jun 10 - 07:47 AM

Excellent man he was. I've been growing my organic veg in deep beds for 25 years as a result of reading his book. He wrote more soundly on this topic by a country mile than any other writer. He wrote a lovely book about cycling round England if I remember rightly. I can't remember the exact line, but his Seymour's Law stated that any given round trip on a bicycle will have twice as much uphill as downhill.

Subject: RE: Is author John Seymour still with us?
From: katlaughing
Date: 17 Jun 10 - 12:08 AM

Glad I opened this thread. I've learned a lot and what a pleasure to read your story, Jon, Also, SIL Carningli, thanks for posting and welcome to the Mudcat.

kat in Colorado

Subject: RE: Is author John Seymour still with us?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 17 Jun 10 - 03:21 PM

www.carninglipress.co.uk

There's the link. Interesting site, indeed. Thanks!

SRS