Tributes for John Foulcher

The April EREMOS magazine was John’s last edition as editor. Members and friends have offered their thanks and tributes for his wonderful work as editor these past 6 years. You may like to read his last editorial here.

I would like to express my appreciation to John for his dedication as editor of EREMOS magazine A very complicated and time-consuming task which he has carried out with skill and sensitivity.
Pamela McKenzie, Mornington VIC

Thank you, John, for a wonderful selection of articles, poems and artwork, and your editorials, edition after edition of EREMOS. With your extensive background as a poet, teacher and a person who reflects deeply on faith, you slipped easily into the editorship role and blessed the Eremos community with your wisdom, sensitivity and mature appreciation of literature and how it speaks to life in all its dimensions. May your future activities and adventures be enriching, and kind, to you and your family.
Linda Turton

I cannot believe it has been 6 years. John brought new life to the magazine with articles across many and varied subjects. It has been a delight to continue to receive and share articles and poems with friends and my congregation. All the best for the future John. Some more poetry perhaps??
Jorie Ryan

Thank you for your hard work all these years.
Anna Saminsky

I remember only too well the long journey to find a new editor for EREMOS in 2020. What a find John has turned out to be over his six years in that role! His literary and creative gifts are evident in his beautifully written and thought-provoking editorials. What made these particularly engaging was the way his contemplative reflection on some life experience, book or film, or recent social or cultural event, would segue into the flow of articles for that edition. To elicit and assemble such a range of articles of such quality for each edition is no mean feat. John, we are so grateful for the flair, generosity and commitment you have shown in your time as editor of EREMOS over the past six years. It is it is now time for the next chapter of your journey. Travel well!
Frances MacKay
Former EREMOS Editor

Thank you John for the immense variety of articles and book reviews you’ve commissioned for EREMOS. As a reader, I have greatly appreciated the wide range of topics, the quality of writing and your thoughtful editorials. Wishing you well in your next endeavours. 
Rosalind Bradley 

Dear John 
Your words.. your voiced expression opens up doors....
Yours in appreciation for the gift of your work and time as Editor.
Anthony Mayne

John has been an outstanding editor of EREMOS. I have particularly appreciated the depth and breadth of the magazine under his editorship, and I have also been deeply grateful for his editorials, where his wisdom, insight, compassion, intellect, and erudition have shone through. The range of articles he has commissioned is also testament to his profound faith and love for humanity.  His skill as a writer and editor have also greatly benefited the magazine. We have been enormously blessed to have had John as editor, and I wish him every blessing for the future.
Roland Ashby

Thanks, John, for your years of editing the magazine.  I always looked forward to reading your editorials.   
Elaine Alinta

I feel honoured to have met you John and to have spent time with you as part of the Eremos Council. I have enjoyed hearing some of your poetry and I also like your thoughtfulness and measured way of looking at the world. You have contributed greatly as editor of the EREMOS magazine for the last 6 years.
I wish you well for your future endeavours and believe you have so much to offer wherever you find yourself.
Louise Dobson

John, thank you. As long-standing editor of EREMOS, you shared your rare gift for drawing out people’s perspectives and insights, letting them speak in their own words, and always finding the threads that connected one piece to another. Your editorials were founded on compassion and generosity; on a genuine desire to explore the divine in the everyday and what moves us most deeply. Under your leadership, the magazine deepened its exploration of spirituality in a distinctly Australian context: the way our stories sit within a shared landscape, the journey through dry places to new understandings, and how listening well connects us to one another and across divides. Thank you for the wisdom, creativity, commitment and the poet’s care you have so generously brought to Eremos and shared with all of us.
James Iliffe

I always greatly enjoy reading every edition of the EREMOS magazine. It is always beautifully put together by John Foulcher whose editorial is so interesting and well written as are his  occasional other contributions. As John steps down as editor, he does so with our thanks and admiration.
John Thorpe

As editor of EREMOS, John was a curator of many and varied explorations of the spiritual life. He always seemed to do so in a gentle and genuine way. I noticed this most in his willingness to read and publish poetry sent to the magazine. This encouraged me to move rather daringly in directions that my own spirit was calling – a journey that has been deeply enriching. Thank you, John. Your encouragement has been truly inspiring and inspiriting. 
With many thanks, and best wishes,
Rita Glennon

It’s been a privilege and joy to work with you, John over these years. You brought new perspectives, challenges and considered reflections in your 6 years as editor. I value how you continually highlighted the Eremos story -- it’s past, present and emerging energies and purpose. I love your stories in your editorials, revealing your own journey and skilfully weaving it into what awaited us in the pages which followed. I want to particularly acknowledge your vision and dedication to create our 40th Anniversary edition of EREMOS in 2023. You reviewed 40 years of articles (roughly 160 magazines), created a short list for the Council to review and curated the final production. Working with Kate and Felix, our production team, to create the anthology of 140 pages with 25 articles.  Details here It’s truly a legacy for which will continue to be valued for years to come. 
Kate Scholl

John with Margaret Ackland at the launch of the 40th Anniversary Edition of EREMOS
on the 30 April 2023. (photo by Stephen Webb)