John Davy (journalist)
John Charles Davy
Biography
Early life
John Davy was born to the journalist couple Charles and Doris Davy in London. He had a younger brother who, as he did, became a journalist. From the early 1930s onwards, both parents were intimately connected to the work of Anthroposophy. Charles Davy wrote a number of books, amongst others The Three Spheres of Society (1946) on
The two boys attended Abbotsholme School in N. England, strongly influenced by the pedagogical ideas of Kurt Hahn but John asked to spend his last year of schooling at Michael Hall, in Forest Row. Here he was taught by Cecil Harwood and Francis Edmunds, both of whom remained connected with him in his anthroposophical work for the rest of his life.
His military service he spent in
Science correspondent
Quite unexpectedly, he received an offer from The Observer in London to act as their first science editor. Under the chief editorship of David Astor, the paper showed great openness to new socio-political, scientific and ecological ideas. He accepted, married and moved to Forest Row in Sussex, commuting to London every day.
His duties entailed reporting on the newest scientific developments of the 1950s: the computer, the beginnings of space travel, on latest developments in psychological theory, the discovery of the structure of
and others, drawing attention to many of the dangerous developments of modern civilisation.In the course of these years, John Davy was often requested to hold lectures and write articles relating to the Anthroposophical work. For professional reasons, he published this work under the pseudonym "John Waterman", adopting the pen name of his father "Charles Waterman".
Emerson College
In 1962 Francis Edmunds had founded Emerson College in Forest Row, in pursuit of an ideal to bring young people from all over the world together, enabling them to receive a comprehensive training in thought, art and handcrafts on an anthroposophical basis. From the start he had wanted to include John Davy as his co-worker in the project, a position Davy accepted in 1969.
He became assistant-director of the college, with the primary responsibility for development and course of the Foundation Year. His particular fields were the development of scientific method and viewpoint; its strengths and limitations; their relationship to other means of perception, in particular to the work of the artist and thirdly, methods of working together in groups with the aim of deepening our phenomenological understanding of nature.
Besides directing the work of the College, he had become increasingly engaged in the work of the Anthroposophical Society in Great Britain. For many years he had worked together with Cecil Harwood and other British anthroposophists to re-unify the
In April 1984 when he was unexpectedly diagnosed with cancer and died in October of that year.
Published works
- Work Arising from the Life of Rudolf Steiner, Rudolf Steiner Press, London 1975. ISBN 978-0854402946
- Hope, Evolution, Change. Hawthorn Pr (Hawthorn House) 1990. ISBN 978-0950706276
- Matter and Mind - Imaginative participation in Science. Lindisfarne Pr 1991. ISBN 9780940262454
References
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