I am very sad to announce that Will left our world on October 24 2021. I have edited the original text for this page in order to acknowledge that Will is no longer with us. I was married to Will for forty-six years, but he defies easy description. Perhaps it’s useful to remember the old maxim, “By their fruits shall you know them”, and describe his areas of activity.
He was a gifted musician, seemingly capable of getting a tune out of any instrument you put in his hands, whether it was the bagpipes, ‘cello, charango, didgeridoo, or a plain old guitar.
But he was also a talented wordsmith and wrote numerous songs in differing styles. This was brought to the fore when he worked with me and his brother Tim on the musical, Roll Over Jehovah! This review by The Evening Standard is typical: “Will Shaman’s score is slickly clever [with] everything from disco to Bach.” The show, with choreography by Wayne Sleep, ran for six weeks in London.
He was researching for his book, on Fit For Purpose, wishing to describe his personal experiences with epilepsy and to promote the creative possibilities of altered states of consciousness. His naturally optimistic disposition led him to the conclusion that epilepsy, at least for some, can be a positive way of being, rather than simply a condition to be cured or suppressed.
Will was also a visual artist. He was trained as a graphic designer and illustrator in the ‘80s. Before college, he had already been designing and printing his own range of handmade wallpapers – picking up a Design Centre sticker along the way and lodging a couple of patterns in the Victoria and Albert Museum’s permanent collection of prints, under the trade name Patrick Jarman. He went on to become Design Manager at Oxford University Press, setting up their first fully digital design studio. After going freelance, he continued collaboration with the Press, providing animations and illustrations for English Language Teaching courses.
Will was the hidden half of SoulSchool, my educational project, where I offer a variety of meditation and healing courses. He built and managed the SoulSchool website (as well as this one) and designed and produced all the other web, print, audio and video materials.
Will and I regarded each other as best friends as well as husband and wife, parenting four daughters. Working closely together on The Angel of Secrets series was a great delight for Will, as it gave him an opportunity to devise puzzles, make illustrations, and write iambic pentameters. It also helped that he had a good working knowledge of astrology, tarot and other mystical practices, all of which helped with his devious puzzle-making imagination!