It is with deep regret that I mark the sudden passing of John Elliff. John was an Abraham Lincoln scholar and in many ways my mentor in the Lincoln field.
I first met John only in January 2012 but I feel I’ve known him much longer. I was attending my first meeting as a new member of the Lincoln Group of DC and John was one of the first people I met. I fondly recall him standing up to announce that he was reading Bill O’Reilly’s then new book Killing Lincoln “so we don’t have to.” [The book is poorly researched and contains many factual errors] In that one sentence, John displayed both his intellectual fortitude and his good humor.
As the years have passed since then it was John who encouraged me to become more active in the Lincoln Group of DC. I joined the Lincoln Group’s book discussion club because of John, and it was John’s inspiration that led to me becoming a member of the Lincoln Group board. Through these years I marveled at John’s incredible command of facts, understanding, and insight into Abraham Lincoln’s life. No matter what aspect of Lincoln we were discussing we could always count on John to have knowledge that would expand our understanding. I looked up to John’s leadership and I knew that everyone else in the group did as well.
John was also a leader in other Lincoln groups as a board member of the Abraham Lincoln Association based in his native Illinois, the Lincoln Forum, the Illinois State Society, and as a volunteer docent at Ford’s Theatre. He was a dominant presence at our monthly Lincoln Group of DC book club and only a few months ago finished his two-year term as President of the Lincoln Group of DC after many years in other leadership roles. All the while he was, as fellow friend and Lincoln scholar Bob Willard noted, “Lincolnian in character – honest, smart, hard-working, empathetic, curious.” Everyone in the Lincoln Group of DC appreciated these characteristics. He was a true leader.
My heart reaches out to John’s family, especially to Linda, whom I’ve known and cherished since that first day I met John. I am a better person and Lincoln scholar because of John Elliff. May he rest in peace and the knowledge that he has inspired so many others. He is, and will always be, deeply missed.
The family has asked that in lieu of flowers, people consider making a donation to the Lincoln Group of DC.
David J. Kent is an avid science traveler and the author of Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America, in Barnes and Noble stores now. His previous books include Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity (2013) and Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World (2016) and two e-books: Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time and Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate.
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