[Jayne Osborn]

Our much-loved friend and wonderful poet, David Anthony, died on 6th March 2024.
His funeral is to be held on Monday 8th April at St Giles Church, Stoke Poges, Buckinghamshire, SL2 4NZ, England, at 11.30am.

Passing through the Woods, with a Foreword by our own Cathy Chandler, is a poetry book that "regales the reader with a variety of skillfully crafted, sensitively rendered poems", and "David's greatest strength lies in his exquisite sonnets, and the reader is treated to well over two dozen of them, in various permutations, in Passing through the Woods."

Of David's 1st book, Words To Say, the late, great Timothy Murphy said: "When I was asked for a description of the verses of David Anthony, the first things that came to my mind were the dignity and gravity of his work. His judgements are as measured as his verse. Of course for the light of heart, he also writes a wicked versified joke."

I will be reading some of David's poems at the funeral, and his wife Brigid has kindly consented to copies of these two books being sent to Spherians in return for a donation to Eratosphere, in order to help Alex to maintain the smooth running of this amazing site that we all love - and of which David was extremely fond. Indeed, it's true to say that many of our paths would not even have crossed had it not been for Eratosphere!

Please let me know if you are happy to pay the postage plus a donation, and I will send you the books. (If you already own them, they're the perfect gift; any lover of poetry should have them on their bookshelves.)

Below is a link to photos of David - the family man, the wonderful poet and a truly lovely man.

https://david-gwilym-anthony.muchloved.com/

Jayne

[Clive Watkins]

David was indeed a very decent fellow, Jayne. We had already exchanged books many years ago, when I was more active at the Sphere than I have been for many years. As far as I can remember, we met in person only once – at a lunch you organized, a long time ago, at The Trout Inn at Wolvercote, near Oxford. Also present were Gregory Dowling, David Mason, Cally Conan-Davies (and, I think, Rayne, her daughter), and also the British poet Rory Waterman – but I may be mistaken about this, too. As I say, this jolly event occurred a long time ago. David and I shared our love of and family connexions with Wales, in my case with South Wales, in his case with North Wales – though, growing up on Merseyside and the Wirral, I know well the Gwynedd David spoke and wrote about.

Thanks for the information about his funeral, Jayne, and for the link to photographs of David. A sad loss.

Clive