Comments on: In celebration of Professor Emeritus John Horst Jr., a ‘man for all seasons’ and beloved of EMU

By: Richard L Bowman

Richard L Bowman — Wed, 15 Sep 2021 03:35:31 +0000

I need to kid my physics profs about not getting the subject matter correct for the photo of John Horst in front of a blackboard full of equations and talking to a student. John had just derived one of Maxwell’s equations in a course on electricity and magnetism. I have attached a screenshot of how I put it into Word, but with the strange characters, I was not sure it would always come through OK. Hence the screen capture available at my website as shown. I was trying to remember who taught me E & M as we typically call it in physics discussions, but it probably was John. I was just hunting up some info about John’s death and this page came up in my search. Since Elsie and I now loive at VMRC, it woould have been nice to have more time to talk with him. I should have done that.

BTW, Clair Bang and I were the first physics graduates form EMC (in 1970). (I was a double major in physics and math.) Ten years later the physics major was dropped. I have not seen Clair in any of the succeeding years. But I think this photo may have been from the late ’60’s, and the student might have been Clair. –Richard

By: Nate & Denise Barker

Nate & Denise Barker — Tue, 29 Sep 2020 13:31:03 +0000

We never had John for a single class but we remember him well. As one of the many renters of he and Joan’s basement apartment next to EMU, we were blessed with knowing them. From sharing space in their garden to listening (through the ceiling) to John play piano in the evenings we have many fond memories of our time with them.

John was always a gentle and kind man. We want to say thank you to he and Joan for blessing us with such a place to start our married life and continue our education.

By: Dave Hockman-Wert

Dave Hockman-Wert — Tue, 29 Sep 2020 12:54:18 +0000

Ah, so sorry to hear John has left this mortal coil. First, I believe the unnamed student in the photo is Merle Mast, whose tenure at EMC was in the late 1980s (graduated 1989?).

Learning that I played Bridge, he took me, a lowly student, to the local Bridge club on a number of occasions. I also took Physics of Music with John. As a budding scientist and musician, this was a fascinating study into the foundations of sound and its generation.

RIP, John! I’ll think of you singing with the choirs of angels!!

By: Carol Ann Weaver

Carol Ann Weaver — Fri, 25 Sep 2020 02:27:59 +0000

It is with such deep sadness that I hear of John Horst's passing. He was a most remarkable man and one of the most forward-thinking persons I knew of, musically, and in so many other ways. He was so far ahead of many of the rest of us. I can hardly fathom all the ways he influenced me -- first as my 8th grade math teacher at EMHS (he generously passed me, somehow!), as a friend in the community when we'd listen to and talk about music, as a faculty colleague at EMC, as my teacher of electronic music (while I taught at EMC), and as a friend, colleague, and supporter in the larger world of Mennonite music making and new music. His regard for and ability to create innovative music has always amazed me, especially since his roots could hardly have prepared him for all the twists and turns of new music within his lifetime. He encouraged me to keep stretching my own musical boundaries by suggesting I should end some of my songs with more of a question mark -- things like that which meant he really was listening and thinking! Most recently I have appreciated his support so very much, as expressed by his coming to the Sound in the Land festival/conferences which I organized here at University of Waterloo/Conrad Grebel University College, Ontario, by supporting several of my CDs -- Paraguay Primeval and Songs for My Mother, and for playing my music on WEMC. I consider him one of the most important persons in my life. He was there, musically, long before anyone else I knew in my own community, and he has always stayed on that exciting, narrow path of search and discovery, so very vital for the continuation of our human species and for our living in harmony with the wider world around us, both human and other! Carol Ann Weaver, composer, pianist Former EMU Music Prof. Professor Emerita Conrad Grebel University College University of Waterloo www.carolannweaver.com Chair, Association of Canadian Women Composers (ACWC) http://www.acwc.ca Secretary, Canadian Association for Sound Ecology (CASE) http://www.soundecology.ca Artistic Director and Coordinator, Sound in the Land https://uwaterloo.ca/grebel/sound-land-2014