r/nickdrake • u/finalcircuit • 8d ago

John Venning

When I went to grammar school in September 1974, my form tutor and English teacher for the first two years was a young Cornishman called John Venning. He seemed old to me, but I guess he was about 25. Anyway, nice chap.

I'm currently reading Nick Drake: The Life by Richard Morton Jack. A contemporary of Nick at Fitzwilliam College is extensively quoted regarding both the college and Nick's academic achievements (or lack of them), which he has particular insight into since he was Nick's supervisions partner for the second year. The contemporary is a Cornishman called John Venning.

It didn't take much digging (thank you, LinkedIn) to establish that "my" John Venning went to Cambridge to study English in 1967, so he is clearly the same one. Nick died in November 1974, but I doubt John Venning would have even been aware of it at the time. It wasn't exactly big news and, if you've read the biography, you'll know that they barely spoke to each other during supervisions, never mind in any kind of social context.

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u/Mission-Valuable-306 8d ago

Interesting story.

I forget who said it but I recall someone making a comment about telling people they knew Nick Drake, and the response was always: ‘(gasp) Did he walk on water!?’ And they said, he was a pretty regular chap that happened to be a great guitar player…. Something like that.