Rye Bonfire have been contacted by former Rye town councillor, and Rye Bonfire president John Izod’s god-daughter, Matilda Wither Velevitch, who knew John all her life across several continents. Matilda often used to come to bonfire night, as a lot of her family are / were from Rye and Playden (Tollgates being their house – still is).
Anyway, Matilda is a playwright and is currently developing a piece about John (and his former wife, who was also quite a character), for more information on Matilda please see www.velevitch.com.
Matilda would like at some stage talk to some of the Bonfire Society about him, along with anyone else who knew him well. Whenever she came to see him, there were always a million things and stories flying about that she could hardly keep up.
Please email any stories, pictures and anecdotes that you might have on John to her directly at matildavelevitch@gmail.com.
Often the smallest stories / details are the best. When travel becomes easier she will come down and stay with the family in Playden and hopefully be able to chat with some people. Ideally as a big fan of rural touring, Matilda would launch the play in Rye and travel around the area with it.
Matilda added “Rye cultivates a certain magic which is why he was in his element there”.
Editors note: click here for an interview with John in 2016 in our Ryers Unwrapped series.
Image Credits: Dee Alsey .