John Sheridan 28/9/1923 - 24/6/2006 By Martin J Deane

John Sheridan passed away peacefully Saturday morning last. He had been ill in recent months. Many will remember him for his commitment to the peace movement. All those Saturdays turning out for a stall in Queen Victoria Square, complaining of the cold ("It's bitter, isn't it?!"), handing out leaflets, or engaging even some most unlikely groups in conversation on what the Coalition is up to now. Or himself and Val walking the route of the largest demonstration in British history on Feb 15th, 2003, against Tony Blair's war on Iraq - pre-planned - as we now know for definite.

"They're bastards!", he would say, given the chance to vent his spleen to whoever would listen and he'd mean the lot of them: Bush, Cheney, Blair, Cameron, the new empire builders, "They're all as bad as each other." And he was right! Difficult though it may be to hear, Britain is an outlaw state presiding over maybe two million Iraqi deaths, the second biggest arms dealer to the world, joining America in its oil and power-driven rampage of bombing, death, torture, unlawful imprisonment across two of the world's weakest countries. And John knew all of this - in his bones - and spoke against such insupportable injustice with a powerful passion.

I remember one Stop the War meeting where John brought in a box of clippings 'from the old days'. He had been involved in Hull in the Committee to End the War on Vietnam, running through the 1960s and 70s and in CND (Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament) in the region. He had seen it all before; he had been there time and again. Many's the time he would refer to us lot as 'the Committee' in our present incarnation of local peace movement. I was never quite sure if it was deliberate mischief on his part or a blast from the past.

Occasionally you would get a sly, cheeky grin giving the game away when he had made some particularly off-colour remark.

Others may remember him for Sheridans Books, a bookshop on Anlaby Road which he ran for many years including a large music collection which some spent hours rummaging through. Whatever people's experiences of him - both good and bad - because he could be as vituperative as he could be protective - surely all would agree that 'a character has passed'. May he rest in peace.

The funeral will be held next Friday afternoon, 2.15pm at Haltemprice Crematorium, Willerby. In the evening there will be a wake-gathering at Val's, 124 Newland Park at 8pm. Bring your instrument!! Martin J Deane

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