Death of John Carroll
Very sad to report the death of another important figure within drama education circles in this part of the world – Prof. John Carroll. I attach here below an extract from an obituary for John written by Susan Battye. To read the whole thing, visit the drama NZ website….
Professor John Carroll, BA NE, MEd PhD Newcastle(UK) has died. A staunch supporter of Drama New Zealand from its inception, he will be sorely missed by many members for his intelligence, wit, humanity and devotion to the work of Dorothy Heathcote. He has made an enormous contribution to the development of Drama in Education and his death is most untimely.
His friend, Gerry Boland writes: ‘John Carroll died in Bathurst at approximately 12:30am, Thursday, 27 October. His life’s partner Julie Martello, his sister Lee, and son Jack were with him when he expired after making a stalwart fight against cancer over many months.’
T o me he was an Aussie chum who was colloquially known in Drama circles as ‘one of the Johns’. He is immortalised on film working with Primary aged students in Newcastle upon Tyne in role in a Mantle of the Expert drama about Dr Lister. We were fortunate to have been able to see John last year during a presentation to the Drama Symposium organised by the Critical Studies Department at the University of Auckland. Within the world of academia John Carroll paved the way for Drama to enter the brave new world of screen mediated drama. There is no doubt that his pioneering work in Australia has been of benefit to us all who work in the field of Drama in Education.
I knew John from the Lister work as Dorothy Heathcote revered his depth of knowledge and understanding regarding the method. He was another of the giant trees now fallen.
John was an inspiring and co operative international colleague. We met at international congresses in England, Norway, Canada and Australia.
He worked a whole month in 2002 with students of our NHL drama department and children of a primary school in Leeuwarden on the subject: the journey of the Batavia from the Netherlands to Australia , decades ago. Half a year later I asked a child if she could give me still some information of those history lessons. Of course I was there, I experienced myself all the troubles, just ask what you need to know.
I hoped to meet him again in 2013 at the next IDEA congress in Paris
I did not know of his illness.
We will not meet anymore
Have a good journey now all alone John
Lidwine Janssens
The Netherlands