"I can't tell you how blown away by the Website and all the tributes to John. And when I came to "Farther Along" hearing him sing. Oh. my. goodness. I always thought it was just my Father and his brothers who would gather around the piano; I'd play and they'd sing "Farther Along." But it must have been their parents- brothers Oscar, (John's Grand dad), John (my Grand Dad) , J. D., Will, Mike (Walter) Clyde who sang it because John would have heard it from his Mother Raynelle- it had to have been a favorite family song. Or maybe John just liked it, but the inner-connectedness of us all is amazing. Oh, how I wish I could have known John as the incredible adult person he was. What a legacy he left. He was so sweet as a boy. I don't think there was a mean bone in his body. He had early lessons in pain, disappointment and forgiveness. I heard a great definition of humility that does apply and describe John. "Humility is not thinking less of yourself, but thinking of yourself less." I believe that was John. The 9 fruits of the Spirit. I call them "Love Potion # 9"- Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Humility, Self-Control. The John I remember was the epitome of Love Potion # 9.

K = Katherine Townsend
Dr. E.= John T. Edwards, PhD

K: Dr. Edwards, you are involved in treating substance abuse problems on a family level.  What advantage does this type of treatment have over the more traditional methods, like group or individual therapy?
Dr. E: The major advantage I have found, and I've done all three over the past five years, is that family therapy takes on more importance to the drug dependent individual.  That is, his motivation level is higher. The important people around him, many of whom control some of the resources the drug dependent person needs are there, and are reacting to the identified patient in ways that sometimes help maintain the problem.  So, breaking into the enabling pattern is very important.
K: To what extend are families involved in what seem to be individual problems such as drinking too much or drug abuse?
Dr. E: A recent Gallop poll conducted through out the U.S., that came out about 6 weeks ago, inndicated that one out of three families have a problem with substance abuse.  That's quite a high statistic and it was one that surprised many people.
K: What evidence do you have that family treatment is more effective than individual or group treatment?
Dr. E: There is evidence from research conducted in various places, but notibly in Philadelphia by M.D. Stanton, that bringing in the family in drug dependent problems leads to a more successful outcome.  That is if you measure outcome by the two main criteria of amount of time without drugs and no criminal activity.  My own experience and some of the readings I've done indicate that there is more success when you bring in the families of the drug dependent person.
K: You mostly work in the Structural/Strategic models of family therapy.  What are the assumptions of this model and how does it differ from other family therapy methods?
Dr. E: Structureal Family Therapy and Strategic Family Therapy are not the same.  They do have different ways of approaching the problems.  The Structural model and Strategic model do share however, some common assumptions.  One of these is that a long standing chronic symptom of most any type, including drug abuse, is being maintained in its social context.  That's a very important assumption for doing therapy.  The primary social context for most people is the family. 
         Another assumption that is made about this model is that in a drug dependent family, the recurring patterns of relating to each other have in some way violated certain principles of hierarchy and boundries.  By that I mean the power structure in the family have been distorted or reversed, like a child may have more power than the parents.  Boundries may be unclear, like an overinvolved mother with a son.  Some of these patterns sometimes result in symptoms like drug abuse.
        A third assumption is that changing these family patterns or structure will change the experiences of each member, and remove the need for the symptom, thus allowing a new growth process to begin in the family.
K: In the model you use, what would one be trying to accomplish by seeing, for example, a drug abusing young person with his/her family?
Dr. E: By young person I am going to assume we're talking between the ages of 13 and 25.  In the majority of the cases that I have supervised or worked with in this age range have a problem with beginning and maintaining their own independence.  That is, it is a separation issue.  They are overly involved with their nuclear family (mother, dad and siblings) or they have unsuccessfully tried to leave homme and are unable to be self sufficient.  Therefore, seeing the entire family helps to reorganize them to motivate the young person to allow for the separation to occur successfully.
K: How long would one work with a particular family?  How many sessons are involved?
Dr. E: I like to see a family between 8 and 15 sessions.  However, the average is less than that with this population.  I believe that some long standing and enduring structural change can occur within the 8 to 15 session range for at least 80% of the families.
K: Does family therapy take more time?
Dr. E: In terms of total treatment hours it probably takes less time.  Things happen faster in family therapy; therefore, fewer sessions are needed.
K: Is it best to use co-therapists with families or a single therapist?
Dr. E: I like to work with a special kind of co-therapy model.  That is, only one therapist in the room with a family.  However, I strongly believe in having the support of a supervisor or colleagues, who, if the equipment is available, can be observing the session behaind the mirror, with the family's permission.  So, it's a special type of co-therapy model.  Only one therapist is in the room at a time.
K: If this model does not advocate co-therapists in the room, are you saying that one therapist could do this without any support from anyone else?
Dr. E: Even thhough there is only one therapist in the room at a time, I believe no one should attenpt to do family therapy entiirely alone.  There should be colleagues or others involved in the work that the therapist can talk to and invite to observe sessions to give feedback.
K: Many families are extremely resistant to discussing drug problems with a therapist.  How do you get these families to come in?
Dr. E: If you have administrative support, you can make it a general policy that all people below a certain age would have to have their familiies in for at least an assessment interview.  However, if you are not working with young people in a family, you're working with young adults who are not in the nuclear family, then you have to see them on an individual basis and begin discussing family relationships.  Gradually, over one or two sessions, the therapist is able to build a sound rationale for including the family.  It would be important, however, that the therapist contact the family and not go through the identified patient (IP) to get the family in.  The therapist needs to get permission from the IP and contact the family directly.  Everyone living in the home should attend the first family session.
K: How much training does it take to do family therapy?
Dr. E: The American Association of Marriage and Family Therapy (AAMFT) has set the standard of 200 hours of training plus 1000 hours of actual experience with a family to be certified as a clinical member in their organization.  I believe, however, that competent family work can begin (with support of colleagues) with less training than that, perhaps in the 60 to 80 hour range, not all of which would be in room with the family wiith supervision, but most of which would.
K: How would an individual or an agency that wanted to learn family therapy begin?
Dr. E: By attending one or more workshops.  I have noticed, particularly in the past year and a half, that there has been a fairly dramatic increase in the amount of training workshops in family therapy.  There are perhaps six major schools of family therapy.  Structural is one, and Strategic is a second.  But the four others are also widespread.  I would recommend that a beginning therapiist choose a workshop, find if that model suits their particular style, and if so, inquire from the workshop leader where further training can be obtained.
K: What are some of the training resources in the nearby area?
Dr. E: I'm not familiar with all the ongoing supervision type training of this model in North Carolina.  In know that the Randolph Clinic and Open House are collaborating in Charlotte to provide this training, and I know that some is provided by the Family Therapy Learning Center in Raleigh.  I'm not familiar with others who are available as trainers, but I believe they do exist in the state.  The therapist would just have to ask around in order tto find out about this.
K: Does it take any special equipment or facilities to do family therapy?
Dr. E: It's highly advantageous, almost necessity, to have some way that the single therapist working wiith a family can be observed by a supervisor or colleague.  The easiest way this is accomplished is through the one way mirror with microphone and videotape.  The family, of course, gives permission in writing for this observation to occur.  If the one way miirror is not available, and neither is videotape, then I would suggest that the colleagues work together in the room.  However, only one therapiist would deal with the family, the other would sit nearby but stay out of the action.  That would allow processing to occur between the colleagues after the session.
K: Would you mind people who are interested in further information about family therapy contacting you directly?
Dr. E: No, I would be delighted.  I like to talk with anyone about family therapy training.  I would like to see it become a more common therapeutic approach in this state.  I can be called at (704) 376-2431, which is the Randolph clinic where I am employed as a consultant and trainer.
K: For a therapist beginning family work, what readings would you recommend?
Dr. E: I would recommed for this particular approach, any books by Salvadore Minuchin or Jay Haley.  Minuchin has written or co-authored three books.  The latest of which is entitled Family Therapy Techniques which I believe is an excellent book.  Jay Haley has written seven books, perhaps the best of which for the beginner is Problem Solving Therapy, published in 1976.  However, there are many excellent books on the market these days and they seem to be increasing in number.  I understand there will be a bibliography of family therapy books in this issue of the ADAP-ter.
K: Yes there is, it's on page 9, and thank you for this interview Dr. Edwards.

This interview was conducted in early 1983 by Katherine Townsend who collaborated with Lewis Foster to produce a Western Region newsletter for professionals working with chemically dependent clients. 

John and I shared a rich history together from the time I met him in Fort Valley in 1957 when I started dating his sister Elaine.  Elaine and I eventually married and John became the "brother" ,more than brother-in-law, I had always wanted.  We shared families with alcohol problems which, in part, became the fire that helped shape us into family therapists.  He and I shared attending Emory University and being members of Kapha Alpha fraternity graduating 3 years apart.  

Upon John's return from service in the Navy in the Viet Nam war he worked towards his PhD in counseling psychology at the University of Ga where I had earned my PhD in clinical psychology in 1968.  He moved to Charleston SC where I supervised his PhD dissertation on the use of meditation to help people reduce and stop smoking cigarettes.  This was a habit he reduced but never completely gave up but he did conquer the use of alcohol for himself and helped many others do the same.  

After completing his PhD John took over my job as Director of Mental Health and Substance Abuse at the Franklin Fetter Health Center in Charleston, SC.  This  allowied me to work full time in the Department of Psychiatry at the Medical University of SC where I taught indivdual and family therapy, as well as community psychology.  

My gratitude towards John as an uncle extraordinary to my children and their families is un-ending.  As seen on this site he was there for an inestimable number of friends, trainees, families and colleagues.  In his final moments in the hospital he was counseling the staff that attended him.  He was always at our backs and still is.

Your Brother,

Sid   



 

"These are brief, random bits of advice to myself which help guide my actions with families. I collected them from my experiences with families and from my observations of trainee therapists from behind the one-way mirror.

*Discussed at LPCNC Conference keynote address on 9/25/09.
 
*1.  Safety first.
 2.  With every family, I am a student.
 3.  Help families create alternatives.
 4.  Use what's happening in the room for therapeutic purposes.
 5.  Where possible, make it happen in the room, not in the future.
 6.  Where necessary, use leverage (social, emotional, legal).
 7.  The process should be presented as one in which everyone gains.
*8.  Keep parents in charge of their children.
 9.  Search for strengths.
10. Engineer successes.
11. Stay relevant.
12. Make a clear statement and pause.
*13. Stick with the presenting problem, at least initially.
*14. Join with the adults to help a child identified patient.
15. Think systemically.
*16. Think in terms of at least three people.
17. When the system gets stuck, add or subtract (people).
18. Go through their content to work with their process to change the family structure.
19. Think concretely and in practical terms; also think conceptually.
20. Be creative.
21. Go with the energy flow (motivation) of the family.
22. Expect success.
23. Think in terms of three generations.
24. Be clear on therapeutic goals; what are you trying to do?
25. Think in terms of multiple causes of behavior.
26. Work with colleagues.
*27.Discuss with colleagues my mistakes with families.
28. Think in terms of what's needed; also think of what's possible.
29. For a reluctant family or member, find access key (their motivation).
30. I must understand them before they will understand me.
31. Use my own feelings as information about the family.
*32. When the dynamics are too obvious, don't take steps that are too large.
33. Believe what you see.
*34. Join carefully with the family "doorkeeper" (the one who controls access to the family).
35. Don't do what you can get a family member to do.
36. Don't give up unless it would be in the best interest of the family.
*37. If you can't improve the family, improve yourself. 

Wendell Berry: "A Place in Time: Twenty Stories Of The Port William Membership"November 14, 2012

Farmer and author Wendell Berry writes about characters who've lived in an imaginary town in Kentucky for generations. He explains why this way of life is threatened, and why we need a national agricultural policy based on ecological principles to protect it.

http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2012-11-14/wendell-berry-place-time-twenty-stories-port-william-membership

Good bye old friend.

Celebrating John T. Edwards

Host: Michael McGuire

Phone: 336-624-8487

When: Friday, May 11 from 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM

Where: The Children's Home1001 Reynolda Road Winston-Salem, NC 27101

On Friday afternoon, May 11, 2012, there will be a special event at The Children's Home in Winston-Salem, honoring John.

"John Edwards worked tirelessly throughout the Carolinas promoting family work by teaching counselors how to think and intervene systemically to help a child.  John also impacted us through his unconditional acceptance and modeling the importance of living in the now. John passed away in November and now with spring in the air and time to have reflected on his work and life, we want to honor him with a celebration on The Children's Home campus where he spent so much of his time and energy. We will also discuss the launching of a foundation created in his honor."

Anyone wishing to attend is welcome, and can contact Michael McGuire who asks you to " feel free to bring a reading, story, quote, photo, etc you want to share with the group. Meet in Tise Cottage located near the farm, across from the lacrosse field.

I shall always remember the day you told me about this folder you had begun writing in.  Of course you dated every piece you ever wrote, so all is carefully documented.

First there are "Notes" :

"MOVE!" (6/13/10)

"READ." (6/18/10)

"LISTEN." (6/18/10)

6/10/"Beliefs are powerful.

Sometimes more powerful than life itself.

     -Don't let my beliefs tyrannize me

     -Don't let my beliefs tyrannize others

     -Don't let other's beliefs tyrannize me."

2/11  My top values

     -Peace

     -Freedom

     -Meaning/purpose in my life.

- - -

4/12/10   What I learn from nature.

-Patience

-Self-interest

-Cooperation

-Survival skills

-Beauty, order

-Everything has a season

-Change

-Dailyness of life

-Consequences

-Adaptability/flexibility

-Evolution

-Understanding of human behavior

-Understanding of my behavior

-Awe and wonder

-Humility

-Stillness

-Lawfulness

-Deep respect

Photo taken by Hans Miller at dawn on November 10, 2011

Shibumi:

Subtle, unobtrusive, restrained with a balance of simplicity and complexity that grows over the years.

This was John.

This hill overlooks my garden, where John and I spent many hours discussing many things, especially his reverence for peace, nature, and optimism about what was coming.

Hans

30 years of relationship with John is beyond my ability to describe.  Like so many others he has impacted my life deeply and is a part of who I am.  His wit, knowledge, skills, desire to learn, ability to teach and his “eye” statements, reframing etc. are just bits and pieces of our relationship.  We both loved to read and spent many hours talking about books we shared.  We both loved Lewis Thomas and his many books and over the years often talked about his wonderful ability to see the invisible world just beyond the visible one that most of us reside in.  One Thomas quote “It is in our genes to understand the universe if we can, to keep trying even if we cannot, and to be enchanted by the act of learning all the way” always reminds me of John.  I will not be surprised if one day in walking along my path I will happen upon John as I did in the past.  I will be delighted and we will walk together for a ways, converse and marvel and learn and share and then begin again on our separate paths.  It was the nature of our togetherness. 

I first met John in the mid 1980s, at one of the many workshops he presented, in his never-ending mission to make human service professionals aware of family systems theory.  I was mesmerized....like many who experienced his deceptively casual style of diving into the crucible of family dynamics....as if he were a matador, taming a snorting, snarling beast.

"I lead, because I follow"....this was his simple explanation for an approach that made professionals....many professionals, like me, want to learn how to master something that was clearly instinctive to John.  "Positive Reframing", "Alter Ego", "Guard Rail", "Circle Drawing"....these are just a few of the nuggets of wisdom that fell from John like acorns, taking root in the work of generations of helping professionals.

If you stop and think about it....multiply the number of years that John travelled tirelessly to workshops and training events, the thousands of professionals that he taught, the books and videos that were read and viewed until they were dog-eared and worn out....and you extrapolate that to the countless lives of clients who have been touched, and will be touched, by his tools and techniques....one is struck by the immense power of one life lived well.

John made me believe in my own ability to help people....empowering my desire to do so.  Though he made it look easy, his passion for his work was no mere intellectual exercise.  As I became a student of John's, attending more workshops and joining his supervision group, I became aware that my need to understand the dynamics of family stystems was rooted in my journey to make sense of my family history of alcoholism and trauma.  When I shared this awareness with John, he did not analyze me, or negate my professionalism;  he validated my experience by telling me about his own family experience, with two alcoholic parents who had been both loving and tragic.

John not only taught about family....he created family, among the fortunate ones who took his track at the week long Summer School at Wilmington, in the role play exercises that always hit home, with a wry grin and a twinkle in his eye.  And in the sultry evening, after a long day of training, he would sit at the picnic table, under a live oak tree, in front of a dorm on the UNCW campus and play guitar, as he sang a melancholy ballad to his family....gathered around him.

The world is a better place, for John T. Edwards, the "Southern Gentleman of Family Therapy".

Tab Ballis

Dr. Edwards was a supervisor, colleague, and a friend. 

Over the past seven years I had the pleasure of learning from one of the best therapists this field has to offer.  His wisdom, knowledge, strength, and energy fueled my career as a young therapist. 

Dr. Edwards taught me what it means to be a therapist.  He got me to see, too, through families we as therapists are able to learn life's lessons. 

The knowledge he left behind will never bve forgotten and will always be cherished.  I am truly humbled and appreciative for the time that I was able to spend learning from him and being in his presence. 

On behalf of The Children's Home in Winston-Salem, let me express our gratitude for the guidance John has given our staff over the past twenty years. 

His wise counsel and strong teaching helped our staff re-inspire families caught in the midst of challenges.  Many counselors had doors of understnading opened in his group supervision and many used John to unburden their own concerns both in how to help and in needing help. 

John is already missed and will continue to be missed into the future.  His legacy is the love he engendered in hundreds of families through his guidance and encouragement.

"Wild Geese," by Mary Oliver

You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees
for a hundred miles through the desert, repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body
       love what it loves.
Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.
Meanwhile the world goes on.
Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain
are moving across the landscapes,
over the prairies and the deep trees,
the mountains and the rivers.
Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,
are heading home again.
Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,
the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting-
over and over announcing your place
in the family of things.

from New & Selected Poems (Harcourt Brace).

Listen to Mary Oliver's readings at Emory University, John's Alma Mater:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XnaP7ig69go

"Shop Notes"

(From post-it notes to himself in his shop where John spent many hours)

"Take the spiritual significance of this moment to heart." 5/09

"The here and now present is the most powerful moment in history."

"Learn to pause, and allow something to catch up with you."

"The way you teach is what you teach." 6/01

"My 'one thing':  With peace and freedom, nurture my emotional, physical, and spiritual well being."  7/11

"We're all learners and we're all teachers."

"DALED:  Do A Little Every Day"

"One word sums up the credo:  Patience."

FARTHER ALONG

Tempted and tried we’re oft made to wonder

Why it should be thus, all the day long

While there are others living about us

Never molested, though in the wrong

Farther along we’ll know all about it

Farther along we’ll understand why

Cheer up my brother, live in the sunshine

We’ll understand it all by and by.

When we see Jesus coming in Glory

When He comes home from His home in the sky

Then we shall meet Him in that bright mansion

We’ll understand it all by and by.

Farther along we’ll know all about it

Farther along we’ll understand why

Cheer up my brother, live in the sunshine

We’ll understand it all by and by

I didn't know John was on Youtube until one of my supervisees told me. There may be more but this is what I found. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=62HTYRM14rs He is brilliant! 

                                   When great trees fall,

                                    rocks on distant hills shudder,

                                    lions hunker down

                                    in tall grasses,

                                    and even elephants

                                    lumber after safety.

                                    When great trees fall

                                    in forests,

                                    small things recoil into silence,

                                    their senses                 

                                    eroded beyond fear.

                                    When great souls die,

                                    the air around us becomes

                                    light, rare, sterile.

                                    We breathe briefly.

                                    Our eyes, briefly,

                                    see with

                                    a hurtful clarity.

                                    Our memory, suddenly sharpened,

                                    examines,

                                    gnaws on kind words                

                                    unsaid,

                                    promised walks

                                    never taken.

                                    Great souls die and

                                    our reality, bound to

                                    them, takes leave of us.

                                    Our souls,

                                    dependent upon their  

                                    nurture,

                                    now shrink, wizened.

                                    Our minds, formed

and informed by their

radiance,

fall away.

We are not so much maddened

as reduced to the unutterable ignorance

of dark, cold

caves.

And when great souls die,

after a period peace blooms,

slowly and always

irregularly.  Spaces fill

with a kind of

soothing electric vibration.

Our senses, restored, never

to be the same, whisper to us

They existed.  They existed.

We can be.  Be and be

better.  For they existed.                          

-Maya Angelou

“Alex, Baldwin, Floyd, Killens, and Mayfield”

My relationship with John went back many years. I actually first met him in 1982 when I was working at a substance abuse agency and went to a conference in Wilmington where he did a weeklong course. I was really young but smart enough to know that he was special. Years later when I moved into a staff development position where I made decisions about trainers for our mental health staff's continuing education, I was pleased to be able to work with John. Though I don't recall the date he began his work with the Guilford Center, I am confident he did training for us for 2 decades. We were fortunate to be the agency for which he did his 500th training - Ginger worked with me to arrange a surprise recognition of the event (she drove to Greensboro with a cake for the celebration).

John Edwards was doing a workshop at Randolph Clinic in the mid 1980’s in Charlotte at the Randolph Clinic utilizing the 1 way observation glass installed there. John and the counselors attending the training were on 1 side of the glass and a counselor (Katherine) was with an adolescent and his parents on the other side. The adolescent and family were aware of this arrangement and had graciously given their permission. Katherine was doing an excellent job with the family until a large housefly appeared in the room. Katherine ignored it. The adolescent and his parents did not. As we watched… 3 pairs of eyes (the adolescent, his mom and his dad) followed that fly up to the ceiling where he stayed for a short while, then to the wall to the right, then as he did some erratic flying maneuvers past them to get to the left, then back to the ceiling and he continued these aerobatic movements for several minutes. The eye movements of the 3 family members continued to track the movements of the fly.  John stood up, went to the phone system,  buzzed Katherine and said “Katherine, acknowledge the fly”.  She said “What do you mean?”  John replied “Just say ‘there is a fly in the room’” & he hung up.  John turned to the group of counselors and said “Who had the power in that room?” Some folks thought it was the adolescent, some thought it was the counselor, some thought it was mom, some thought it was dad. The session had been taped & John played back that particular segment. He said “Who has the power in that room?” The group observed the segment and replied  “The FLY”. John said “Yes.. the fly had all the power in that session. But once you name something or acknowledge it… it loses that power.”  

This is the story I used when I accepted the McLeod Institute award. It is a lesson I have added to my tool box for work as well as for my life. It is a gift from John for which I will always be extremely grateful.

Jeanette Day, CCS, CSAC

Charlotte, N.C.

In 1981 or 1982, I was working as a substance abuse counselor for Smoky Mountain Mental Health in Waynesville when Dr. Craig Iversen and I first contacted John about providing some training to our adult staff of mental health and substance abuse clinicians. As you will recall, this was before the days of integrated treatment so it was a big deal to get the mental health folk and the substance abuse folk together for training. I remember being struck by John’s “Low Country” accent during that first contact and I imagine he was probably similarly struck with my mountain accent. One thing led to another and before long John was in Waynesville providing a workshop for our staff. It was the beginning of a great learning cycle for me individually and for our agency as a whole. People were excited about what they were doing and it was as if we were working in a real learning environment.

The training continued through that first year and on into the second year and years beyond. When preparing for a session, I still hear John in my head at times: “Remember the goal of the first session is to have a second session!” “Enter the family through the children.” My all-time favorite occurred after he had observed me or one of my substance abuse colleagues in a session that didn’t go too well. As I recall it, we lost the father in the family fairly quickly in the session because of some inappropriate and poorly timed probing. In the debrief of the session, John exclaimed, “You know, you substance abuse people are like bloodhounds. You just get a little whiff of alcohol and you gotta go dig after it. Sometimes, you need to just sit back and let it come to you!” It was a great lesson in patience and “joining the dance of the family” rather than trying to dictate the dance from our “expert” seats.

My association with John continued after the cuts and slashes of training dollars started and I was honored to be one of the “extra set of eyes” for his first book and to be privileged to provide training with him from time to time. I regret that as we moved on in our respective lives that our paths crossed less frequently. I had infrequent opportunities to chat with John after his fight with colon cancer, which was robbing my father of his life in that same general time frame. John, as always, offered words of encouragement tempered with reality. I had a wonderful conversation with John of some length several months ago. In hindsight, more time may have passed than I realized as his health seemed good then and he was talking of maybe moving to the mountains to enjoy his retirement. In that last conversation, I was able to express to him that, next to my father, he was probably the most influential man in my life.

My sadness at the knowledge of his death is overcome by the joy of having known John as both mentor and friend. He touched the lives of so many either directly through his training or through the fruit of his training. I will choose to celebrate that as we mourn his passing.

Sincerely,

Cecil E. Yount, MA, LCAS, CCS

Waynesville, N.C.

I can not remember how I met John in the mid-80’s shortly after I came to live and work in NC.  At the time, John was already established as a trainer and supervisor in family therapy, specializing in working with addicted families.  Talking with John once and I knew I wanted him to be the one to train our SA staff at Smoky Mountain MHC.  I felt assured I had found the right person when he insisted that the staff that were being trained were also supervised in their new learning.  John and I shared the commitment to transforming learning into practice through ongoing supervision.  I feel confident that the many counselors John trained in his years with us translated into healthier families across the western part of our state.  When John and I were not engaged in training counselors, he was a pleasure to be with in off hours.  I always looked forward to his visits with us.  When I moved to Piedmont MHC in the mid 90’s, I brought John to help our SA staff there as well.  I admired the skill with which he handled experienced, professional people who were often being exposed to a new way of practicing; always caring, never condescending.  

As the 20th century turned into the 21st, I lost track of John although I would occasionally encounter him at a professional conference.  Despite what appeared to be some health issues, John always took the time to rekindle our relationship and would ask how my family was doing.  I am deeply sorry his life was cut short by illness.  I will miss him and the positive effect he had on helping us to professionalize the SA field in NC.  He was a pioneer and an innovator and those are rare persons indeed.

My condolences go out to John’s family and other friends.  Dorsey Ward

This was his Georgia,  this his share,

Of pine and river, and sleepy air;

Of summer thunder and winter rain

That spills bright tears on the window pane

With the slight, fierce passion of young men's grief,

Of the mockingbird and the mulberry leaf.

For wherever the winds of Georgia run

It smells of peaches, long in the sun;

And the white wolf Winter, hungry and frore,

Can prowl the North by a frozen door,

But here, we have fed him on bacon fat

And he sleeps by the stove like a lazy cat.

Here Christmas stops at everyone's house

with a jug of molasses and green, young boughs,

And the little New Year, the weakling one

Can lie outdoors in the noonday sun

Blowing the fluff from a turkey wing

At skies already haunted with Spring.

Oh...Georgia...Georgia...the careless yield,

The watermelons ripe in the field

The mists in the bottoms that taste of fever

And the yellow river, rolling forever!

Fall of the possum!  Fall of the coon!

And the lop-eared hound dog baying the moon

Fall that is neither bitter nor swift

But a brown girl bearing an idle gift

Through endless acres of afternoon;

A pine cone fire and a banjo tune

And a julep mixed with a silver spoon...

--From John Brown's Body by Stephen Vincent Benet