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In Memoriam: Garry Eaton

It is with great sadness that we report the passing of Garry Eaton, long-time Digital Librarian of The Haiku Foundation. Garry died unexpectedly of a heart attack on the evening of November 26. Those of us who have had the good fortune to work with Garry will miss his exuberant wit, his contagious enthusiasm, and his considerable efforts on the behalf of haiku. He is already missed.

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  6. My deepest sympathy to Gary’s family. I will miss his introductions to his selections from the Digital Library.

  7. I am so sorry to hear of Garry’s death. It was a shock just now to see this. He did so much for the haiku foundation. I will miss seeing his name.

    Condolences to his family.

  11. This is a shock to hear of Garry Eaton’s death. I will miss his brief but exuberant intros to THF Book of the Week. The time he put into the digital library, and his poetry, are a fine legacy.

  12. A sad loss for the haiku community. Garry will be long remembered for his beautiful haiku as well as the work he did at THF promoting and preserving the creative works of others. Deepest condolences to his family and many friends.

  13. This is sad news indeed. My condolences to Gary’s family, friends and colleagues.
    May he rest in peace 🙏🦋

  14. My deep condolences to Garry’s family. I remember when he archived my article on Hainka on the Digital Library with a beautiful introductory note. I miss you, Garry.RIP.

  16. I knew Garry through his poems, particularly the ones he sent to tinywords.

    He practiced haiku as a way of refocusing his attention and improving his appreciation of the gift of life. I will remember his examples.

    One sticks with me:

    the light in the back
    of the flower shop
    winter moon

    ~ Garry Eaton
    (tinywords, Feb. 2010)

  20. Most sincere condolences to Garry’s family and friends. His dedication to his own poetry and THF Digital Library was always exemplary and inspiring. Such a sad loss.

  22. My condolences to family , friends and the haiku community at large. We never met i was only aware of him through his great poems. My loss

  23. Quite a shock to wake up to. I never met Garry but did recently correspond with him on a Haiku Foundation matter. He was helpful and courteous. Sympathies to his family and he will certainly be missed on this site.

  24. I knew Garry primarily as a poet. Though we were colleagues at The Haiku Foundation, I was only dimly aware of all he was doing for the organization. I should have been more aware but, like a lot of us, my imagination usually does not delve deeply into the dedicated, behind the scenes efforts of those who put the poetry in front of us. Thank you, Garry. Thank you.

  26. Oh, this is such sad news. Sincere condolences to Gary’s family. He will be deeply missed by everyone in the haiku community who had the good fortune to correspond with him.

  27. Oh my gosh, this was a shock to my system. I am sorry we have lost him, and my very deepest condolences to his family.
    .
    You did so much for us Garry, deep bow.
    .
    Alan Summers
    co-founder, Call of the Page

  28. It’s a shock to read this.
    The most recent email I have from Garry was on November 11th, less than a fortnight ago. He said he was writing a biography of a relative who made a splash in business circles in the 20th century and that it was a major piece of work.
    .
    Garry and I get on well. He was straightforward, intelligent and yes, he had a great wit. And he was sincere. We’d got to know each other through haiku groups such as Jane Reichhold’s AHA forums, beginning many years ago now.
    .
    It was Garry who, upon my enquiry some years ago, ensured that John Bird’s ‘Haiku Dreaming Australia’ was rescued and archived at THF before it degenerated too much. Garry wrote to John Bird and got his explicit permission. This year, Garry was kind enough to enquire how the conversion of ‘A Hundred Gourds’ to PDF form for the THF archives was coming along and when I told him that Mike Montreuil is working on the conversions,Garry contacted Mike.
    .
    I will truly miss Garry. His sincerity was a rare thing.

  29. My condolences to Gary’s family and friends. I enjoyed and benefited from our workshopping experiences and appreciate all he did for the haiku community.

  30. I send my condolences to Garry’s family and to his THF colleagues. I have learned a lot from the resources in the Digital Library.

  32. I am heartbroken.
    I really liked Gary. He was a good man.
    I’m sure many feel this way. He spread decency wherever he went.

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