OBITUARY
Published 31st October 2003
John Drummond was born in Hong Kong on 11th February 1956. He was the son of Margaret and Gilbert Drummond. His father was working for Cable & Wireless at the time and the family moved around the world to Mr Drummonds different postings. The family also consisted of Johnny’s half siblings –George, Gavin and Jane. They were a bit older than Johnny and were, when they became of age, placed in boarding schools in UK, and came to visit their brother and their parents during holidays.
One of Mr Drummond’s postings was Zanzibar, a small island outside East Africa. Johnny often talked about Zanzibar and its beauty and its people. Here Johnny found his first love – the housemaid’s daughter. They were both three-and-a-half years old. Johnny always said that he learnt a lot from Zanzibar, things like respecting people without thinking about colour, religion, race or their status in the society. The respect and genuine care was something that followed Johnny through his entire life and created then foundation for his entire being.
After only a few years, it was Johnny’s time to go to boarding School in the family’s native Scotland. He never spoke in many positive words about the school. Johnny was not a person suited for uniformity, strict school discipline and limited scope for creativity. He often told stories about the dreaded icing cold dormitories, where the young boys from similar circumstances as Johnny, with parents working in far-away countries, laid shivering under the bed covers silently crying - longing home. There were also more positive memories, the boys’ appetite for bubble-and-squeak and the fierce fighting over who should get the caramelised, thick residue from the bottom of the huge pot of baked beans. Johnny also talked, not without a smile, about his career in the school’s rugby team. I didn’t believe it at first when he told me, but I have seen the photographs of the ginger-haired, skinny lad in his rugby outfit together with his teammates.
After Boarding School, Johnny entered art school and his educational career was crowned with a degree in sculpting. He was truly a man of the arts - painting, sculpting, literature and music was his passions and his general knowledge, especially in those areas was tremendous.
In the early eighties, Johnny was living in London, working in a patent office, having a stormy relationship, which eventually broke up. Johnny’s parents, that had been in St Helena for some years suggested that Johnny should join them for a holiday to forget the collapsed relationship. He came for a holiday in 1983 and did not once leave St Helena soil for 18 years. In St Helena, he put his knowledge into use as a teacher, first as supply teacher at the Secondary Selective School and became an established member of the teaching staff at Prince Andrew School in January 1989. Johnny enjoyed teaching and took genuine interest in his students’ achievements and progress. In March 1998 he felt that it was time to move on to something different and he successfully applied for the post as Information Officer in St Helena Government and Editor for the St Helena News. As we know, the St Helena News Media Board was created the following year and Johnny continued as Editor for the St Helena News and its successor, the St Helena Herald until shortly before his death.
General Enquires: (+290) 2660 | News Desk: (+290) 2488
Email: FM@cwimail.sh | independent@cwimail.sh | studio@cwimail.sh