The Luminous Mr Hamilton

Johan Henri Quanjer was a striking, mercurial figure, with unusually large hands, whom people warmed to quickly in spite of any initial reservations. He had a ready, rather black sense of humour, a characteristic of the Dutch, which he remained at heart, although his flawless, clipped English never betrayed his origins.

The only clue to this was his surname, and he took great pleasure from the approach of the staff at his local corner shop in Battersea, who gave up trying to pronounce Quanjer and decided to address him instead as "Mr Hamilton".

He wrote a memoir, The Luminous Journey (1996).

Quanjer never married, although he adopted a son, who lives in New Zealand. He was comforted by his belief that his ideas would outlive him, and that the 21st century would prove to be the time when his vision would prevail. "My thoughts," he liked to think, "will endure for ever".

Work cited obituary for Johan Henri Quanjer, The Telegraph, 26February 2001.

Resources

Pneumatocracy

In Advance of the Landing: The Findhorn Community

The Haunted Skies