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<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Michell_(writer)" target="_blank">John Michell</a>, the visionary author of <em>The View Over Atlantis</em>, <em>The Flying Saucer Vision</em>, <em>City of Revelation</em> and many more died early this morning, 24 April 2009, aged 76.

John was central in introducing ancient notions of the sacred into the English counter-culture of the 1960s, and in shaping both the Earth Mysteries movement and much of what we would today recognise as contemporary paganism and modern antiquarianism.

I met John on a handful of occasions and we tended towards good-natured disagreement on the crop circle phenomenon, which he felt was ultimately mysterious, even divine in origin.

The current issue of <a href="http://www.forteantimes.com/features/articles/1653/the_man_from_atlantis.html" target="_blank">Fortean Times</a> features a lengthy tribute to one of its earliest supporters, who  was also a good friend of its founding editors. 

Curiously, I am convinced that I saw John – a very distinctive character – on Charing Cross Road in London twice in the past two weeks, looking very frail and walking with a stick, on one occasion supported by a friend. When I mentioned this to David Sutton at Fortean Times yesterday, he informed me that John had left the city a few weeks ago to die peacefully in the countryside.

John Michell's <a href="http://www.johnmichell.com/" target="_blank">official site</a>

FT's <a href="http://www.forteantimes.com/features/articles/1653/the_man_from_atlantis.html" target="_blank">tribute</a> by Bob Rickard