GV's belated tribute to Duke John

[GV]

John Woolley and the late Fritz von Buchholtz must be mentioned in the same breath.  In the spring and summer of 2005, neither could have stood up to Ben Madison alone and have the inadvertent, but potent result of persuading Tomás Garçeir to take his own stand against Ben regarding keeping the Talossan language accessible to all, a fully-unintended result that directly led to the unintended result of Ben's and Amy's abdication and renunciation, liberating the Kingdom and driving a stake into the heart of the 2004-2012 Republic, even if the Republic took eight years to realize this and come to its senses.

John may have had ulterior motives for welcoming us back into the Kingdom in 2011-2012, but as the 2005-2011 Kingdom was becoming moribound and stagnant (nothing compared to the Republic's woes, I must add), it was in his and the Kingdom's best interest to let Reunision happen.  When push came to shove, John did not stand in the way of progress, even if by doing so, he might have inadvertently driven his own stake into the heart of the 2005-2011 "SCA-Talossa" culture under which a lot of Talossans were still having a lot of fun.

Two incredibly difficult and ultimately-positive events from John's reign come to mind where his leadership and mere presence on the Throne was critical.

First, we had a citizen convicted in a court of law of crimes unbecoming a Talossan.  When this came to light, the entire country ran around like a chicken with its head cut off at a PR disaster that never came to pass.  When we were all understandably pining for this citizen to be expelled immediately, John remained calm, quiet, and advocated for this citizen's removal by legal and appropriate means, so long as it was done in a timely and orderly fashion.  In an orderly and timely fashion, this removal came to pass.

Secondly, in June 2019, Ben Madison made a serious attempt at persuading the country to let him back in.  I was one of the Senators at that time who would have blocked a për vote on his citizenship-restoration, should it have ever come to pass, but in the end, I will always suspect Ben knew John never forgets, even if he is not vindictive.  The prospect of having to deal with John Woolley, not to mention a vociferous cadre of Talossans who also remembered, caused Ben to think twice and persuaded him to leave Wittenberg and not make contact with us any longer.

John Woolley has always loved Talossa.  Even if he has certain ideas of how Talossa should be run, he has still loved Talossa.  He served with competence and for a long time, before that serving brilliantly as Secretary of State.  He and Fritz both are titans of Talossan history. 

John, as much as you have dropped some large eggs, they have only ever been in the full and sole context of Talossa.  I still thank you for everything, and from all I've heard about you, I continue to wish I'd known you, Manus, and your families outside Talossa, even as I've known a number of you within.

Gödefrïeu Válcadác'h, PLN
Dean of the Senäts and former Mençéi
26th and 29th Prime Minister of Talossa

[King Txec]

I've had the pleasure of spending time in real life with both Duke John and Count Thord. Hooligan and John convinced me to try Rocky Mountain Oysters, and even though I knew precisely what they were, I did and, honestly, they were tasty.

We spent a very pleasant evening together in Denver and since then I have considered both to be life long friends. I speak regularly with Hooligan as well as the Duke. I believe we all should be meeting in person, virtually, etc. We should have as many meetups as possible and since it is almost 2025, it is very easy to do this!

Thanks for your recollections Sir Gödafrïeu. We need more stories like this to keep our traditions and culture alive!

- Txec R