Long-time Lismore resident John Jessup passed away recently. John was strongly involved in the local theatre, Community Gardens and the groups for the disadvantaged. His good friend, Steve O'Connor, has adapted the eulogy he read at his funeral to tell the story of a unique man who lived a full life.

John Jessup lived for many years in Showview Street above the golf course but below the water tank on the hill.  He was, in his own estimation, an escapee from the inner suburbs of Sydney. He had left the city on his own terms, as it is difficult for a man who was almost blind to survive, let alone thrive there.

John was a sometimes larger-than-life character. For the times I travelled, or camped or just visited with John he could be described as being a life force. John tried to convince his camping mates once that by wearing his Flying Jacket, he could span swollen creeks in a single bound.  

With a run-up longer than Mitchell Starc, he arrived at the cobbled stone edge of the stream, seeking to fly further than ever before. The mortal frame creaked a little, leapt into the cold air, but collapsed naturally short of the further shore, sort of bouncing out of the frigid stream onto the shore.  

(John, Milly and Rhys on another creek walk)

A blind man has to be audacious to be ordinary. There were other episodes of the Flying Jacket!!  I was never sure whether he actually believed he could fly further or that it was pure hubris. John however, just did not give up or analyse this facet for long. He never sought pity or advantage for his lack of sight.  It was, however, heroic to engage in John’s constant search for his glasses!

He gained the moniker of Doctor or Professor for the ideas which he pursued. He advanced in the academic world but did not formally achieve a doctorate; but he richly deserved the accolade for his understanding of and commitment to the environment.  He was always simply known amongst his family and friends as JJ or Dr JJ. He just wanted to be seen as ordinary!

John had a very fertile, informed and educated imagination. I can readily recall John rushing to my study desk in the ‘chocolate cake’ or the University Library during our studies and telling me of an author he had just discovered. Marshall McLuhan. McLuhan was indeed important in understanding how media was shaping our world and influencing the group we were involved with.

He also created a catalogue of many of the most original of ideas.  During the drought in South Australia in the 1970s, he had the idea of towing a large iceberg from the Antarctic to South Australia. Why not?!  It would then be broken up for drinking water. Twenty years later, this idea was presented at an international conference, but the authors then unfortunately did not footnote John’s very seminal work!! Perhaps they did not know of his work.

Early in his career, he applied for and was granted an interview to become a journalist with the ABC in the current affairs program PM. Quite a feat. He was asked in the process of the interview how he liked the program: he replied that he had not even listened to the program, while adding: I don’t even own a radio! 

John held strong views about the terror and evil of war. He became a conscientious objector, having to defend himself and his views in a court of law.  John’s pacifist views won the day, and he was released from army service. It was typical of John’s gentle yet intellectual approach to life. He cared for life, people and animals. He especially had a very strong sense of justice and what is right and wrong. This guided his actions and engagements all of his life.

Backtracking a little in John’s life, we are reminded of the absolutely traumatic event in which he had a burst tumour on his pituitary gland and lost his eyesight completely. After a little while, he got back around 20% of his sight in the left eye. But that was all. 

This was especially poignant when one remembers that this happened in 1984. Oh well, he said: I will just have to pretend that I am fully sighted.  And he did this for over 40 years, without complaint. Most of the people with whom he came into contact were none the wiser.  He showed a huge amount of character managing a large house, planting a veritable forest in his suburban backyard and with his brother Paul, sharing ownership and custodianship of 250 acres of rain forest called Boundary.

(Steve, John and Paul at the chook pen)

He not only spoke the talk but worked hard planting trees and weeding out lantana to create a healthier bush. He helped plant 800 trees for koalas in Rock Valley.

He used to ride around Lismore on a push bike, but then he acquired a battery-powered bike. It was feared that he was a disaster waiting to happen, especially with speed and an inability to see vehicles coming out of the right quarter. But he rode with care and responsibility. After all, it was John’s independence, and that was very important. His unique eyesight needs necessitated his own invention of two or even three glasses held inside each other to increase the magnification. Looked awkward but was largely effective. At least he entertained and assured us of this.

In all of these matters, he did not give up. He invented devices to sit on the bike to ward off the rain and even to secure his belongings.  Paul did not remember him ever giving up.  In fact, he thought that this determined independence kept John alive and thriving in his sparse world.

John was active in a range of social and environmental issues in Lismore. John was a Foundation and active member of the Lismore Community Gardens. His eyesight caused some consternation in the gardens as he would often fail to identify the weeds and good plants.  

He was an appointed member of the Lismore Council's Disabilities Committee, offering experienced advice from an affected member of our community while also being a Lifeline volunteer Counsellor. He was engaged and then widely known in the community with reasoned opinions on this issue or that.   

He frequently wrote Letters to the Editor in the Lismore Echo and was well known as a result of this. He planned books, and gave talks in the Lismore Living/Human Library. He was a local ‘celebrity’.  Lismore gave John opportunity and a welcome, he gave back so much to so many aspects of this community.

John enjoyed his life despite the many hardships it delivered to his path; he didn’t just endure them, he was a good thespian both in life and on the stage; he was a good traveller and regarded himself as a Great Navigator, which might have been a little misleading, requiring a blind faith!  He was engaged in the musical theatre with the Paradiso Choir for over 15 years.  It was singing, theatre, fun and engaging John in performances completely at New Italy, Bangalow Markets and Australia Day, to name a few.

John lost his son, Marcus, to mental illness. This loss was so hard to accept for the whole family. In his healing, he engaged in helping so many young people in many simple gestures of support and encouragement. 

How can a life force like JJ cease? The universe is creaking, groaning ; Gaia even has developed uncertainty, and the iceberg being towed to South Australia has melted. The old hat and boots will wither out in the bush at Boundary but his warm smile, his kind heart with his vigorous handshake and hug will not. We should all be sustained by this memory, by the love and intense independence of this man, this ‘Professor’ JE Jessup. 

John always came alive in the bush and scrub of Rock Valley, but especially Boundary.  He would don his uniform of an old, old hat and boots, then just plough into the bush.  I must say that this was far more appropriate than the Hush Puppies he wore in the slush and mud of Cradle Mountain years before. These desert boots were immediately sucked off his feet, much to the mirth of his fellow travellers and annoyance of the Park Rangers.

His brother Paul says that John had only known how to fight or resist, as if it were a normal state of being. But John was not normal. He was extraordinary. He is now, however, rather tired of fighting. The fight has seeped away. He wants to rest. 

(John, Ethan and Rhys at the beach)

He cannot see the whales from the headland; he cannot care for and grow the trees; he can only thank his family for loving him all of these years. John’s ‘vision’ has always been different to the fully sighted. We wonder what he sees now, other than his family, the chance to rest and to reunite with his son Marcus. John passed on November 19, 2025.

The famous Tasmanian poet James McAuley wrote just before his death:  

Fully tested, I’ve been found/ Fit to join the underground  …….  The winter will be long and cold before the wattle turns to gold.[1]

[1] These lines are from McAuley’s last poem, ‘Explicit’.