A poem for John
A well-known Stroud poet has written a special piece to commemorate a former town mayor and former SVP trustee who died in May.
Poet Adam Horovitz was moved to write a memorial piece for John Marjoram after attending the Stroud councillor’s funeral in June.
John Marjoram had been the longest continuously serving Green councillor in the country, and several hundred people joined a colourful procession from the Sub Rooms in the centre of Stroud to the town’s cemetery in his honour; Adam was among them; he explains, “I tried to capture as many images, sounds and Quaker silences as I could from the funeral and procession in my poem.”
The poem has been printed in green ink on eco-friendly paper, in line with John’s ecological principles, and proceeds from its sale are going to Stroud Valleys Project (SVP)... thanks to another of Stroud’s well-known characters.
“I’d been sat on Stroud High Street pondering who to offer the proceeds from any potential poster to, when [Made in Stroud owner] Clare Honeyfield happened past – so I asked her,” says Adam.
“She said SVP without hesitation… It just seemed the most natural, obvious fit, given John’s deep interest in, love of, and commitment to the world that immediately surrounded him (as well as all that lay beyond!).”
A limited edition print of the poem is available at the SVP eco shop in central Stroud, priced at £10, with all proceeds going to our work to connect people to nature; a fitting memorial for a Stroud legend who was, as Adam puts it, “a fiercely compassionate force of, and for, nature.”
