Obituaries
John Ball
The death has occured of our dear friend and comrade John Ball following a, thankfully short, battle with cancer. John, a life long socialist and revolutionary, will be deeply missed as is his wife Heather who died in 2001. Here is an obituary sent in by Stair:
I find it hard to do an obituary for someone I had got to know on more than a superficial level. How do you sum up someone's life in a few lines? John was born in Plumstead near Woolwich. He first heard an SPGB speaker at Woolwich ferry in his youth which was to turn him onto socialism, although not before putting himself through a short time in the CP! He was an apprentice armature winder which meant winding wire at the docks for an electrical company for five or six years. This led on to him becoming an electrician for most of his working life.
John was someone I had come across in the early 90's along with Heather (who died a few years ago) prior to us all being properly acquainted with the SP. Our enthusiasm for responsible anti-authoritarian values and the politics of a world so different than this one (a world of common ownership where production is for use not profit ), along with the reasonably close proximity of our houses helped to create a lasting bond and friendship. John was a warm and generous person, a vegan and artist who painted in oils and I guess throughout his life many works which with my limited knowledge would be described as abstract expressionism.
John was very down to earth and would call a spade a spade, at the same time he could be very understanding with people he got close to whose conclusions maybe different from his own but he saw the basis of those conclusions as a possible connection to build upon. John was well read in the eclectic, and in my opinion best sense of the term, and enjoyed connecting with people of all ages and backgrounds. He had a penchant for helping the underdog sometimes to the detriment of his own health. Towards the end of his life John would say to me that he felt ever more convinced that the SP's sole pursuit of socialism and not reformism was the correct and only practical solution to the ongoing problems a capitalist world is always going to throw up.
One of the most important things about John though was the importance he would put on his own and other peoples mental well-being and enjoyment of life. He would take time to meditate and he loved upbeat music and dancing. John recognized the importance of humour. Humour connected to a constructive politics and philosophy of his own in contrast to the sober authoritarian politics of the left he and Heather were always falling foul of in the earlier period of their lives. John died in February of this year (2005). I'm sure his way of being would and did affect positively many people he came across during the course of his life.
Stair.
Dagon Prince (Of Darkness)
Dagon was a much valued friend and comrade. He attended virtually all Norwich Anarchist demos and events, even the most unpopular ones such as sitting on City Hall steps for 24 hrs without food as a symbolic hunger strike in solidarity with the Thessaloniki prisoners.
One of his most recent contributions was sorting out and manning the bar at our Bookfair this June, and given how much we like our ale, it was no mean feat! He was the proud winner of both our Brown Star Awards which highlights his giving and altruistic nature. He was also a regular writer for Now or Never! and we'll miss his humorous articles.
He was always up for a laugh and he appeared in last issue's photo-story as well as issue #3's Classy War fashion photo shoot.
His caring nature extended to animals and the environment and he campaigned and employed direct action in the defence of both. He was a dedicated hunt saboteur and was out most Tuesdays and Saturdays running around muddy fields harassing the hunt and saving animals. He worked for PACT animal sanctuary for a while and continued to volunteer after he left the payroll.
Dagon fought with mental illness during his last ten years and at times found life very hard. Although he had friends and loved ones around him right until the very end he decided to take his own life on 18th October 2004. People with Dagon's qualities are all too rare and he will be sorely missed by us all.
(Originally from Now or Never!)
Message from Dagon's parents
Thank you to all of you for the wonderful send off you gave to Dagon.
Shame we had to meet under such awful circumstances, but it was a pleasure and a privilege to meet you all at last, when we'd heard so much about you from Dagon.
It was good to know that the last few years of his life were spent in so worthwhile a fashion, and that he had the support of such good friends.
Thanks especially to Will for the booklet, which gave us a lot of comfort, which is a bit ironic when we gave him such a hard time about it over the phone, so sorry about that Will! The video was good too, so thanks for that.
We'll be sending our subscription for NoN shortly, as we'd like to continue to follow your exploits, and maybe contribute an article or two ourselves in the future.
Keep up the good work
Eddie and Elaine Prince
King and Queen of Darkness
PS: Please convey our thanks to the girl who played the drum at the funeral, she did an excellent job!