In memory of

David A. Hill

October
2017
1
 David A. Hill
1952 – 2017

The happy, talented, sharing David we all want to remember!

(Photo supplied by Andy Rouse)

Friend

Teacher

Trainer

Text book writer

Story writer

Poet

Botanist

Ornithologist

Art Nouveau expert

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 This book is dedicated to you:

Ildiko and Angelika

We share your loss in our different ways.

We all wish you a time of healing and finding yourselves again without the
immediate presence of David. David remains there in who you are and who we
are.
‘Love Songs for Ildiko’ from ‘Singing to Seals’

published by The Collective Press in 1999.

Hotel Victoria Poem 1

Gone thirty-five

In the dove-rose half-light

Of this Danube morning.

I watch you at your sleep,

Wondering what worlds

Are slipping past

Below your fluttering eyelids,

And what exactly bids

Your turn, your hand’s move so,

Working through your dreams.

And resist the mean temptation

To wake you, break in and hear

The story I’m excluded from

But hope I am the hero of.

Budapest August, 1995

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Hook, line and sinker

With break weight infinite

You cast the long line

Of your eyes

Across intervening space.

I rise

And take the bait in one,

Am transfixed on the hook

Of your soft barbed look.

And you reel me in.

Time and again

You haul me out,

Into this other element,

Unexpected, familiar,

Gasping, thrashing

On the gilded shore.

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 Villanelle: I want you close
I wait for when we two will no more part

And emptiness no longer blurs each day;

I want you close, not just inside my heart,

So pleasure in each other will not start

Only to end when one must go away;

I wait for when we two will no more part

And separate survival is an art,

A jagged game we’re no more forced to play.

I want you close, not just inside my heart,

Your presence constant, clear on my life’s chart.

So there’s no need to write or phone to say.

‘I wait for when we two will no more part.’

So I escape from solitude’s sharp dart

To which my distant mind often falls prey

‘I want you close, not just inside my heart’.

So that my features change to smile from smart,

My colours primary from drab beige, grey,

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 I wait for when we two will no more part:

I want you close, not just inside my heart.

Condolences and Tributes

This collection of condolences and short tributes is, first of all, for Ildiko and
Angelika. The contributions are being put into a book and given to them. On the
other hand more people might like to see this small sample of the wide affection
and respect David attracted and so we will find a way of making a digital
version available.

If you would have liked to contribute and haven’t then please forgive us. We
could not begin to know how many people David affected in his life. We wrote
to those we knew about. If your tribute is not here then we can only hope that
you will find some of your feelings about David expressed here.

The texts vary between very direct offers of condolence to Ildiko and Angelika
and longer tributes to the David we will all miss. We didn’t try to impose a style
and for this reason we have retained a variety of typefaces and type sizes. And
the length of the contributions varies between about 50 and 550 words.

We have all lost someone important to us.

Very best wishes to you all.

Simon Greenall and Andrew Wright

October 2017

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 Some recent poems by David

David wrote and published four books of poetry.

However, the poems below were written during his last years of illness. We
would like to place them here in order to celebrate his long and brave fight
against his illness and his determination to live as fully as he could, as he had
done all his life.

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 ON WHITE HORSE HILL

in memoriam Sheila Mary Hill (1928-2016)

If on this cushioned side of Down

late-winter threaded warp of beige

and tentative new spring green weft

I should soft plant a gentle foot

await the startling Lark’s air leap

its gracious fall of filtered notes

and watch the Kites’ wing-tilt tail-tip

as nonchalant they circling ride

the updrafts curling from the Vale

and make my happy halting way

with pause to intake earth-scuff scents

and haze-veiled barns and farms below

on up to where horse-lines lay white

incomprehensible up close

to where the fort lies ringed and ditched

which guards defenceless light of sky

I know my steps will echo long

back past my mother’s people’s tread

and all the other thousands too

to those who carved this beast built dykes

who toiled and trod this timeless chain

and forward to what’s yet to come.

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 And so I step.

CHURCH VISITING

Parking the car, prepare

To leave this world behind.

Stare across the outer wall,

Making sense of stone:

Mediaeval,

A greying survivor.

Norman porch. Windows

Early English. Tower

Perpendicular.

Eyes feed the brain, deciding

What’s gone on here

Across six hundred years and more.

Weather-toned, moss-

And lichen-patched,

Calm but firm in the green sea

Of the daffodilled

And primrosed graveyard.

And then

nervously

the door…..

Locked or open?

You grasp the worn iron ring

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With both hands, turn hard right.

Deep latch-clunk echoes

From the inner space.

Then push.

The oak-weight creaks,

Moving slowly inwards,

A waft of silent air

Breathes at you:

dying flowers,

damp hymn books,

candle wax,

polished wood.

Step inside, waiting for

What’s hidden there.

It can be anything –

Scraped Victorian,

Jacobean pews,

Morris glass,

Saxon carving.

Pevsnerless,

You never know.

It’s always yours to find.

Another Carter,

Treasure on the mind.

Anticipation

Shivering your spine.

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 © David A. Hill April 2016

RHUBARB

The sky was wide, the sea was blue,

The fishes swam, the seabirds flew,
I heard these words as they passed through:
Rhubarb, Rhubarb, Rhubarb, Rhu.

And then the man came into view

Whose every shouted word was true,
And this was everything he knew:
Rhubarb, Rhubarb, Rhubarb, Rhu.

He spoke of old, he sang of new,

Of what was given, what was due;
Turning to go, he left this clue:
Rhubarb, Rhubarb, Rhubarb, Rhu.

And in my life the meaning grew,

And from these words my life I hew,
And so I pass them on to you:
Rhubarb, Rhubarb, Rhubarb, Rhu.

Rhubarb, Rhubarb, Rhubarb, Rhu.

It’s soon a central part of you,
In all you think and say and do:
Rhubarb, Rhubarb, Rhubarb, Rhu.

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 Suddenly It’s Summer

How this sunshine week has swept away the Spring!

The cherry tree’s christening dress on Monday
Is covered now in leafing’s cloak of palest green.
The croaking jay hops hidden in the poplar’s veils,
Where all had been just pointed sticks and hints of change.
The trees’ wild burst towards their photosynthesising sun
Has hidden hills whose banks I’d viewed with pleasure,
Fencing off the distance and the changing light
That subtly stalked their slopes through day and night.
A week, I say, but no, it’s just four days!
By Thursday it’s into summer that I gaze.....

© David A. Hill 30.03.2017

(From my hospital window, and occasionally the balcony outside.)

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 Condolences and Tributes
from David’s friends

David and some of his nine thousand books which were so important to him.

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Mark Andrews
"Thinking of both of you, Ildiko and Angelika, at this confusing and difficult
time. I always felt the love and warmth that you gave to David whenever I
came to your flat. Have a big, big hug from me and please know that you have
a friend just a few tram stops away on the 56 who will always be there
whenever you want or need me. David was loved by many, many people
around the world in our profession and made a huge contribution to that part
of his life but he told me so many times in our more intimate conversations
how much joy the two of you brought to him and which he treasured and
valued so much more."

(Mark Andrews: Friend of David and Budapest based teacher trainer)

Dave Allan
David was a complex, remarkable and sometimes difficult man, a fount of both knowledge
and enthusiasm in such diverse fields as football, music, plants, birds, literature, art and
architecture, and at his best a great teacher. He was also a good friend and our world is
poorer without him.

(Dave Allan: President and Founder of NILE and long time colleague of David)

Lucia Astuti and Markus Spielmann

Please accept our deepest condolences. Our thoughts are with David's family.

(Lucia Astuti and Markus Spielmann: Helbling Publishers)

Beth Cagnol,
Like many of his colleagues, I have fond memories of David the speaker, author and
conference goer. I consider myself lucky to have known David the singer, pianist and lover of
debate. He spread his love of music hosting more than one Open Mic Night for the association
TESOL France. He always brought the house down. David, you will be dearly and deeply
missed."

(Bethany Cagnol: Past President TESOL France)

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Michael Carrier
David will be greatly missed across the profession as well as by his family and friends. He
was very innovative & creative, gave inspiring workshops but even more important he was
warm & open, friendly to strangers and fun to work with. A huge loss for everyone – our
condolences to Ildiko & Angelika.

(Michael Carrier: formerly British Council Director, CEO International House, & regular
IATEFL presenter)

Maria Cleary
Words will never convey the loss of David. He who loved words and used them so well. I will
miss him.

(Maria Cleary: series editor of Helbling readers)

Claudia Ferradas

Memories of David will forever be challenging me to move out of my comfort zone, to sing
louder, to rethink strategies. I hope his beloved Ildiko and Angelika can find consolation in
treasuring the love they shared.

(Claudia Ferradas: Consultant ELT reading development, literature)

Simon Greenall
Having walked alongside you in many countries, dined with you in many cities and spent
days talking with you, I’ll miss you more than I can say.

(Simon Greenall: Past President IATEFL, writer and close friend)

Judy Garton-Sprenger

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So very sad that a dear man has left us. As both friend and co-author, David was a truly
creative professional, and always unfailingly kind. My love and sympathy to Ildikó and
Angelika.

(Judy Garton-Sprenger: writer)

Jill Hadfield

So sad to hear of David’s death today - remembering happier times - at that lovely restaurant
in Budapest.

(Jill Hadfield: writer and trainer)

Susan Hillyard
Dear Ildiko and Angelika,
It is with great sadness that I heard of David's passing.
I know how hard he fought and how optimistic he remained almost to the end. I
always regarded him as highly intelligent, extremely knowledgeable and hilariously
witty. His talents were vast so much so that he will be sorely missed. I send my
deepest condolences.
Susan Hillyard

(Susan Hillyard: NILE Colleague and friend, mother of James. James, our son,
visited David in Budapest and met Ildiko and Angelika)

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Playing Guitar during the Nile Teacher Training courses in Norwich, Constable
Terrace University of East Anglia., July 2006.

17
Laughing with James Thomas, NILE teacher training NILE teacher training, Students'
Union, 2006.

18
Photography on UAE campus during the Nile teacher training courses. Typical of
David to use up his breaks to make photos of plants, moths and birds! 2008.

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Jamming with Mick Hillyard in the Trainer's Kitchen, Constable Terrace, University of East
Anglia Campus, 2008.

Cream tea group at NILE, Norwich Cathedral End of Course Cream Tea Gathering at The
Assembly House for NILE in Norwich: Jo Stirling, Samantha Dear, Jamie Keddie and Susan
Hillyard, 2009

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Sue Leather
Dear Ildiko and Angelika

I am so very sorry to hear of David’s passing. He was a good colleague and a dear friend.

I have so many happy memories of David from our days in Belgrade, Italy and Norwich. I
also came to visit you briefly in Budapest- Angelika, you were just a toddler at the time. He
was such great company and a brilliant storyteller. We had some very fun times whizzing up
and downstairs on the stairlift in the house where we stayed together in Norwich! J As you
know, he was also exceptionally talented. I remember one day he and I were walking down
Knez Mihailova in Belgrade. There was a bookshop and David insisted on us popping in to
see if his book on flowers was there. It was!

He was also very kind. Jan and I still treasure the little Zsolnay pots he sent us when we got
married.

Jan and I send all our love to both of you.

(Sue Leather: friend and colleague for 20+ years)

Alan Maley
We have lost a great colleague and a great friend. David was a force of nature: teacher, poet,
artist, linguist, photographer, botanist, entomologist, ornithologist, art historian ... a multi-
talented man. But I shall miss him most for his friendship. My deepest condolences go to
Ildiko and Angelika.

(Alan Maley, friend of thirty years)

Chris Lima
David will always be with us. His enthusiasm and deep knowledge of literature and English
teaching is a legacy that will remain with his friends and colleagues as well as future
generations of English language teachers.

(Chris Lima: friend and colleague in the IATEFL Literature SIG committee)

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 David and Chris Lima at 2015 IATEFL.

David speaking at the 2014 Literature SIG PCE on Literature and WWI

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Sandie Mourao
My thoughts and condolences to Ildikó and Angelika.
David will be remembered when I hear the buzzards call in our valley. He taught me to love
them and understand their beauty.
I know he is flying free now.

(Sandie Mourao, writer and trainer)

Péter Medgyes
For our 25th anniversary I compiled the repertory of all the presentations given at the IATEFL
Hungary conferences given in the past quarter century. I was not at all surprised to find that
David turned out to be by far the most frequent and arguably the most popular presenter too.
He was an outstanding model of what expats can do for ELT in Hungary. His professionalism,
reaching far beyond the relatively narrow confines of ELT, will be sorely missed by all of us.

(Péter Medgyes Author, trainer, patron of IATEFL Hungary)

Maureen McGarvey
David was so kind and thoughtful. He used to bring me Delikat to IATEFL
conferences, which he handed over with a smile and a hug, muttering 'This is
really bad for you, you know, it's got so much monsodium gluatamate....Still, I
know you miss it!' A warm and kindly heart, always, to everyone.

(Maureen McGarvey IATEFL colleague, conference speaker)

Frank Prescott
I am terribly sorry for your loss. David had a huge impact on everyone who knew him and it
was a privilege and pleasure to work with him.

(Frank Prescott Friend and co-organiser of several IATEFl-Hungary events with David)

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"Birds of a feather - after David's session at the All SIG Day on May 30, 2015, all the past and
present IATEFL-Hungary Culture and Literature SIG coordinators got together with David,
himself the coordinator of the IATEFL Literature, Media and Cultural Studies SIG from 2008-
2014. In front with David are past coordinators Mark Andrews and Erzsebet Csontos and
behind them is present coordinator Frank Prescott."

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This flyer is from the Seamus Heaney event which David lead for the Culture and Literature
SIG on March 17, 2014.

Beatrix Price
‘Tonight I was looking for a photo with the gold medal on it,
which was given to David at the 25th IATEFL-Hungary conference
in Budapest in 2015. He was honoured as being the person who
had given the most presentations at the IATEFL-Hungary
conferences over the years.
He’d been to every single one since 1998 (since he moved to
Hungary) and given 29 presentations, including six plenaries.
He gave a plenary talk at the very first IATEFL-Hungary
conference in Kecskemét in 1991 and his last conference

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presentation was in Budapest at he Silver Jubilee conference in
2015, where he was awarded the most productive presenter in the
history of IATEFL-Hungary.
As I was looking for this photo with the gold medal, I spent
my whole evening reading through every single email I ever
exchanged with David. I have probably learnt more about him
tonight than ever before, because I had to look up all the
dates and venues and titles and details and quotes...
I have also noticed some patterns; two years ago he gave a
Christmas gift to IATEFL-Hungary; hundreds of articles from
IATEFL SIG newsletters, an extremely valuable resource for our
members from David’s 26 years of IATEFL history (1988-2014).
Last Christmas he wrote his ‘famous’ Farewell letter to the
members of our professional community, which we published in
the latest digital mELTing Pot, the magazine of our
association.
I also learnt that he was a plenary speaker in five different
cities in Hungary over the years.
But the most interesting facts came out of the ‘7 Questions & 7
Answers’ interview that I had made with him before the Veszprém
conference in 2014.
The title was ‘English for a Change’ and in one of the
questions I asked him how green he considered himself to be:
He said: ‘As a semi professional naturalist with published
works on botany, ornithology and lepidoptera, and a very good
knowledge of other areas of the natural world, concern for the
environment has long been a major concern in my life. At the
age of 16 I helped set up the first Nature Trail in my home
town, with the aim of making the general public aware of the
natural world.’
This is something outstanding but of course we will remember
his short stories, poems, images and songs, the magic of
travelling by train in word and song for a long long time.
IATEFL and IATEFL-Hungary were David’s extended family. We have
all belonged there.
I am extremely grateful that I knew the man of many talents;
however, his most memorable piece of art for me is his Farewell
letter to the members of IATEFL-Hungary, the most honest voice
I’d ever heard from him.
‘IATEFL – ‘big’ IATEFL and IATEFL HU – are communities,
families; they have sustained me for nearly 30 years. They can
do the same for you.’
With these words I’m also bidding David a fond farewell. Rest
In Peace, dear Friend! Farewell.’

(Beatrix Price President of IATEFL-Hungary)

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This photo was taken in April 2014 at a post-conference meeting at ELTE Budapest, after the
Harrogate IATEFL conference. Ági Enyedi, Rachel Appleby, Beatrix Price and David A. Hill.

27
Luke Prodomou

The last message I got from David was on October 6, 2017. It consisted of 10 words. It
began with a phrase which is the quintessence of David A Hill: ‘it’s hibiscus’! David was a
passionate and knowledgeable botanist and here he was doing what he loved most: naming
a flower. I had come across this flower and had sent him a photo with a request that he
enlighten me as to its identity.
It was, sadly, the end of a long correspondence which had lasted for around 30 years,
during which we shared our professional and personal lives. This many-faceted man
enriched my life and the lives of ELT colleagues - and indeed the lives of people from
other walks of life, such as botany, poetry, short story writing, music, art history, theatre;
to all of these fields David A Hill brought his boundless creativity.
But it was in the last year of his life, in the depths of his illness, that David and I were
closest. I was fortunate to spend time with him on his two last visits to Greece. He had
been invited to give workshops to teachers on the use of ‘readers’ of which he was, as a
writer, one of the ELT professions most talented practitioners: sales of How I Met Myself
ran into the hundreds of thousands. He was also the author of teachers’ handbooks on the
use of visuals and traditional songs. But the remarkable thing – for me – about David was
his excellence in so many diverse fields, many of which were unrelated to language
teaching: in botany, he made an original contribution in being the first to identify a
hitherto unknown species of crocus; in art nouveau, he published articles in the most
prestigious of specialist journals.
My happiest moments with David were sharing our love of Shakespeare; at the Birmingham
IATEFL Conference in April, 2016, we performed (with David and Hilary Crystal) our tribute
to the Bard on the 400th anniversary since his death: All the World’s a Stage. David played
Peter Quince and Juliet to my Bottom and Romeo...the same show was repeated in
October of the same year a year in Tsblisi, Georgia. After 30 years of being friends and
marveling David’s many talents, I discovered, a year before he died, what a fine comic
actor he was. A few weeks later, we were once again together, this time in Athens,
climbing Lycabettus Hill in search of an obscure species of....what else? Crocus! We found
it. He was happy. On Lycabettus Hill I saw David as I would like to remember him, doing
what he loved most, seeking out the company of flowers.

In October 2017, I sent him that final query about the hibiscus to which he replied, with

28
the exclamation mark which signalled his sense of wonder and enthusiasm ‘It’s a hibiscus!’.
That last message continued with the laconic and ominous: ‘No real news, I’m afraid’.
Until then he had, in every message I received from him , gone to great lengths to
describe to me, amidst the painful medical reports, his abiding passions: reading and
writing, the love of the two ladies in his life, Ildiko and Angelika, and his constant
observation of the life of birds and flowers. And the last message ended with his final
words to me, ‘all love, David’. I will remember David A Hill, with love.

(Luke Prodomou: Author, trainer, co-author and friend of David for many years.)

David’s collection of photographic studies of flowers, birds, moths and buildings must run in
to tens of thousands! All perfectly organised and labelled! He was a tireless collector but he
tenderly loved everything he photographed as you can see here in Luke’s photo taken on
Lycabettus Hill in Athens.

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Philip Prowse
Dear Ildiko and Angelika
We will all miss David so much but no-one more than you. He was a true Renaissance man,
multi-talented and with multiple interests. His novel How I Met Myself was one of the most
successful of the series and I was privileged to work with him on it.

(Philip Prowse: Series Editor Cambridge English Readers)

Herbert Puchta
Dear Ildiko and Angelika,

Please accept my heartfelt condolences upon David’s passing. I will always remember him as
a professional with an enormous depth of knowledge in a wide range of fields. And I will
remember his sense of humour and his friendship as a colleague at Pilgrim’s in Canterbury,
and his passion as a volunteer and leader for IATEFL.

(Herbert Puchta: Past president IATEFL, teacher trainer and writer)

Chaz Pugliese

David, I will miss our furious blues jams, our chats. Thanks for giving me some of
your time. You won't be forgotten.

(Chaz Pugliese: trainer, author, musician. Worked with David at Bell's Teacher
Campus in Cambridge a number of years. Played the blues with him at conferences
around the world.)

Carol Read
I first met David in his Bologna days and saw him regularly at conferences and other ELT
events over many years. He was a person with a fine mix of strong opinions, artistic, musical
and literary sensibilities, and a great sense of humour. He often talked about Ildi and Angelika
with great pride. I was personally grateful for his support and advice when I became president
of IATEFL and also arranged for his last public intervention at a main IATEFL conference,
introducing the plenary speaker, Jackie Kay in 2014, which he did with humility and
brilliance. David made a huge contribution to ELT and to IATEFL and will be greatly missed.

(Carol Read: writer, trainer, past president IATEFL.)

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 David, Carol and Andrew at the IATEFL conference in Birmingham.

Jane Revell

My last vivid memory of David is of him 'fixing' the sound problems at my IATEFL Hungary
talk by grabbing his guitar and singing with great gusto!
His spontaneity, warmth, wonderful creativity and caring will be sorely missed.

(Jane Revell: author, trainer and friend)

Mario Rinvolucri
To Ildiko and Angelika
I have known your husband and father since his days in Beograd, so for half a lifetime.
You have lost a person of in-depth knowledge in many different fields, a digger, researcher
and polymath as well as dedicated teacher of the person as well as the subject.
Obstinate, yes, but also very loyal to his friends. Sadly gone.

(Mario Rinvolucri Colleague of David's in Pilgrim's School. My wife a close friend of

Branka's.)

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Andy Rouse
Cheerio David. It was good to share page, stage and recording studio with you
and those great impromptu Triumvirates with Andrew Wright (and Biumvirate
without him). Who else could have invented such beauteous pomposity!

(Andy Rouse: Andrew C. Rouse: Assoc. Prof., writer and translator and Andy
Rouse, folk singer)

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 The two photos were taken at the recording studio where we did the recording for the
folksong book which David and I co-authored for Helbling. The CD contains numbers by
Simply English, others by David, and some with us all. (from Andy R.)

I love this photo of David! His joy in music and in his playing is so direct! (from Andrew W.)

David's blues workshop for the monthly Simply English Music Workshop series.

Shelagh Rixon
Condolences on David’s death

So many people are going to miss the many facets of David’s character and talents and his
gift for friendship but you will be missing him most of all. My heart goes out to you both at
such a losing him and losing him so early.

(Shelagh Rixon his colleague and friend in Milan)

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Marjorie Rosenberg
Dear Ildikó and Angelika,

Although we never had the chance to meet, I met David many years ago. We saw each other
at IATEFL events, we were IATEFL SIG Coordinators at the same time and spent several
weeks together in student housing at UEA while teaching summer courses at NILE.

I always appreciated David’s openness to new ideas, his wonderful sense of humour, and, as a
fellow musician, his musical talents.

He will be sorely missed in the ELT community. People like David are very special and will
be remembered by so many of us whose paths crossed with his at one time or another.

My sincere condolences on your loss.

(Marjorie Rosenberg Iatefl Vice President Iatefl President (2015-2017) Iatefl Besig
coordinator (2009-2015) Former trainer at NILE.)

Alison Schwetlick
For Ildiko and Angelika, of whom David always spoke most warmly.

David was unfailingly charming, but I first realised the extent of his generosity when I pipped
him to the post to become Editor of Voices. For over 10 years, he supported me unstintingly
with advice, insider knowledge and voluntary contributions to the newsletter. Beyond that,
his polymathic enthusiasms led me to look at my favourite buildings – and indeed the world –
with an aesthete’s eye. He was a familiar and much-loved participant at IATEFL
conferences and I doubt I am alone in missing him.

(Alison Schwetlick Editor, IATEFL Voices and aficionado of old church buildings) correct

Jim Scrivener
David was a great colleague and friend in Budapest and Cambridge. A true
Renaissance man whose love of literature, architecture, Dylan, trains and nature
(moths especially) always inspired me.

(Jim Scrivener: Fellow trainer in Hungary & Cambridge and friend over many years.)

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Russel Stannard

David was a special friend to me and a real inspiration. Whenever I met him at a conference,
he would always find time to sneak off with me for a good chat 'about life'. I loved David's
company because everything came from the heart. David was also a real inspiration to me. He
loved photos, art, poetry, music literature. In fact there was few things that he didn't know
about. I always used to 'pick his brains' whenever we met up. I remember the last time we met
and I asked him about baroque art and of course he was able to give me a great explanation.
David I am really going to miss you.

(Russell Stannard: Friend and Fellow Presenter)

Michael Swan and Catherine Walter

It was a privilege to know David: he greatly enriched our lives and those of
countless others. We will miss him sadly. Please accept our deepest sympathy for
your loss.

(Michael Swan and Catherine Walter: Fellow authors and very old friends.)

Szesztay Margit
Dear Ildikó,
I'm thinking of you and Angelika during these very difficult days. I was very fond of David.
My dearest memories are not his performances, presentations, workshops, but the personal,
honest, heartfelt conversations we had when sharing a flight, around the dinner table, at a pub,
or when we bumped into each other around Moszkva ter. He was a kind man with a caring
heart.

(Szesztay Margit: Friend, Fellow IATEFLer, Fellow trainer)

Adrian Tennant

The moustache, the humour, the breadth of knowledge and the love of birds.
The man from the Black Country - you will be missed. Adrian Tennant

(Adrian Tennant: Writer and Conference presenter)

35
Adrian Underhill
David was extraordinary and ordinary. A polymath, gifted and surprising, yet at home in
mundane circumstances and conversations. Even visiting a new place he might be out in the
early hours tracking the night life of moths, without even remarking on it to others.... He
brought us a lot.

(Adrian Underhill: Past President IATEFL, trainer)

Jane Willis
I met David regularly over the years at ELT conferences. I will always remember him for his
good humour - that cheery smile on greeting people at conferences, for his enthusiasm and
his on-going commitment to many different areas of ELT. Heartfelt sympathies.

(Jane Willis: ELT colleague)

Ivy Wang

David was one of the authors who wrote ELT materials for schools all over China, and as an
editor of the project back then I enjoyed working with him. He was a good author and I'm
sure his work has helped enormous teachers and students in China.

(Ivy Wang: former editor of New Standard English for China)

Ken Wilson

I first met David at TESOL Rome about thirty years ago. He very kindly took
me and some other delegates on a walking tour, revealing hidden treasures in
that fine city, and I was astonished at the detail of his knowledge.
Subsequently, I would be astonished at his knowledge of birds, and of poetry,
and of course of his own skills as a poet. A fine teacher and trainer, with a host
of other talents.

(Ken Wilson: ELT writer and trainer, frequent speaker at conferences in

Hungary)

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Tessa Woodward and Seth Lindstromberg
We met David for the first time on the ‘hilltop’, the Pilgrims summer school at the University
of Kent, Canterbury in England. He immediately struck us both as immensely knowledgeable
( about crocuses, about birds, Art Deco, and of course English Language teaching). Later we
bumped into him at conferences round the world…in Italy, in Croatia….and found out that he
knew about more things such as how to tell good from bad mushrooms, about butterflies…
about poetry…

When I (Tessa) started the IATEFL Special Interest Group for teacher trainers, David was
there at the very first meeting and offered to edit the group’s newsletter. He was absolutely
committed to the idea of professional knowledge and development and pursued this
commitment with great strength and energy.

But of more relevance now is the fact that in every Christmas card he sent, and in every
conversation we had with David anywhere in the world, it was news of you, Ildiko and
Angelika that he shared……what you were doing and how you were getting on. He was a real
family man.

I (Seth) recall David especially vividly in relation to an RSA Certificate in TEFL course (as
the course was called then) that we co-led about 1987. Overall, I was impressed by his
complete dedication to doing good work and by the incredible number and range of work-
related and non-work related domains about which he was deeply knowledgeable. It was
always a pleasure to bump into him at conferences thereafter and to be one of his (doubtless
very many) correspondents by letter and email. It is sad to realize those days are gone.

Dear Ildiko and Angelika….please know that we are thinking of you and wishing you
strength and stamina as you move through these distressing times.

(Tessa Woodward Past President of IATEFL, Editor and writer now)

(Seth Lindstromberg Author and Applied Linguistics researcher now)

Andrew Wright
What a loss to so many people and in so many ways! What a central loss to
Ildiko and Angelika! And, beyond his much loved family, David’s creativity,
dynamism and professionalism enriched the worlds of: language teaching,
botany and Art Nouveau. And he was a poet and a singer…and such a good
friend!

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(Andrew Wright: author, storyman, friend of David’s for many years.)

Margold A Book Title Page Rezso Blessing

Two illustrations taken from David’s article: ‘The Godollo Artists’ Colony in Hungary
compared to the Darmstadt Artists’ Colony.’ I’m sorry I don’t have the reference for the Art
Nouveau periodical in which the article appeared this year.

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