Dr John Rabbetts Obituary
My good friend and mentor Dr John Rabbetts passed away on Monday, October 21st 2024 at the age of 75. John was born in Southampton, on the 25th of June 1949. His father, Jack, was a conveyancer. His mother (maiden name Clitheroe) was a homemaker. Both of his parents were quakers, pacifist and vegetarian. John was also a lifelong vegetarian.
He attended King Edward VI school in Southampton, before attending Winchester School of Art (alongside Brian Eno, from whom he may have bought some hashish). He then studied English Literature at the University of Essex before completing his PhD at University College London. He wrote ‘From Hardy to Faulkner: Wessex to Yoknapatawpha’, which was published on the 1st of January 1989.
John began teaching English Literature at Exeter College in September 1983 and remained there for over thirty years. In that time, he impacted countless lives. It is important to stress that John was not a typical teacher. He treated us more like postgraduates, covering both the standard syllabus and more advanced material for pleasure (such as how to annotate for metric feet). Befitting a literary analyst, he was empathetic, charming, and rebellious. He formed strong and close connections with his students, remaining in contact long after they’d left the college: much to the dismay of the department he termed “inhuman resources”.
His teaching style involved reading passages of, say, Faulkner for several pages before handing that duty over to one of us. He would punctuate these readings with historical asides and personal anecdotes, often affectionately referencing his travels, youthful misdemeanours, friends, and family. He gave us both a rich education and also many reminders not to take ourselves or life too seriously. We were encouraged to seek experiences and adventures, so that we would discover why these authors bothered to write at all. Our cohort adored him so much that we gave him an engraved Zippo on results day.
John inspired me to acquire his love of both American literature, particularly Faulkner, and Irish history and culture, subjects on which he was an expert. His love of Ireland was such that his Irish comrades, such as Pat Conneely, knew him as ‘that quare Englishman’. He was particularly fond of the Irish Trad Session and made many enduring friendships in that setting.
I’m reminded of how John would read Yeats’ The Stolen Child, in a strong Irish accent: ‘Come away, O human child! To the waters and the wild With a faery, hand in hand, For the world's more full of weeping than you can understand.’ The world is indeed more full of weeping in light of John’s passing, yet he leaves behind a lasting legacy of student successes and friendships.
John is survived by his partner of 26 years, Patricia, his daughter Erin, and his stepdaughter Frankie.
Rest in peace, Doc.