The sad news that John died, following a short illness, on 2 February 2020 has been confirmed by a notice in the Norwich Evening News giving funeral arrangements.
John joined HMSO in October 1962, and when I first met him in Atlantic House he was EO on one of the S5 Office Machinery Sections in the days of Margaret Crawley. We enjoyed our Friday lunchtimes in The Red Lion in the company of Arthur Shutler and John Beagle, limiting ourselves to four halves of Director’s Bitter and an expenditure of four shillings each. This did not impair John’s excellent judgement!
John moved to Norwich with dispersal. He was excellent company, and as John Eason says, never out of humour. He progressed to become SEO in March 1985 and worked in posts in Establishments/Human Resources, continuing to live in Norwich with his family.