MEMBERS will be sorry to learn of the death of Geoffrey Culliford at the age of 94.
Geoffrey was a man of many talents and enormous enthusiasm one of which was The Questors Theatre of which he had been a member for 35 years. He worked with me on producing the first fifty issues of Questopies — he was a talented calligraphist and typographer and was possessed of infinite patience, so necessary in those days when word processors seemed as remote as a trip to the moon!
One of Geoffrey's favourite authors was Rudyard Kipling and it seemed appropriate to read "If" at his funeral because in the poem Kipling was saying that you should master yourself, not give in and not feel sorry for yourself in adversity, maxims which Geoffrey had always followed to the letter.
He made a number of generous donations to The Questors, the most recent of which was his collection of hand-thrown pots, an interest which he took up at the age of 80 when he considered his cycling days were over. These are displayed in the west foyer in a cabinet which he provided. He wanted them sold to raise funds for the theatre. "Don't insult me by selling them cheap" he said. Before the funeral, his stepdaughter Caroline suggested that people wishing to send flowers should instead send donations to The Questors so that a tree could be planted as a living memorial to Geoffrey. The fund for this is still open.
ALAN DRAKE
QUESTOPICS 403
December 1995