John Dylan Morgan (3 May 1946 – 5 March 2011) was a physicist, hypnotherapist and author. He developed a theoretical approach to hypnotherapy which he published in his book Principles of Hypnotherapy.^[1] He also made important contributions in theoretical and applied physics.

Early Life and Education[link]

Dylan Morgan was born in 1946 in Burnley, Lancashire to Morien and Elaine Morgan.

He was educated at a Welsh-speaking primary school Ysgol Gynradd Gymraeg in Cwmdare, and Aberdare Boys Grammar School, in South Wales.^[2]

At school he was interested in chess and acting. He once played the lead in Molière's Tartuffe.^[3]

He had a scholarship to study at Jesus College Oxford and graduated with a first class honours degree in Mathematics.^[4] He then obtained a doctorate in Elementary Particle Theory from the University of Oxford.

Mathematical Physics[link]

Dylan Morgan joined the Mathematics Department of Dundee University in 1970 as a researcher. He worked on noise generated by high speed jet engines, as well as the noise generated by high speed helicopter rotors.

He also served as a Senior Scientific Officer at the Royal Aircraft Establishment.

His interest in theoretical physics continued, despite his change of career direction to hypnotherapy, and he published a number of papers in this area.^[5][6]

Hypnotherapy[link]

Motivated by a desire to help people in 1983 Dr Morgan decided on a change of career and decided to become a hypnotherapist.^[7] He was self-taught and this allowed him to work out his own original theory for guiding his practice. This theory is presented in his book The Principles of Hypnotherapy which aims to provide a complete theory of hypnosis and hypnotherapy.

For a few years he also helped at the Leeds University Psychology Department to run courses on hypnosis for qualified doctors, dentists etc.

He was the editor of the Journal of the National Council of Psychotherapists and Hypnotherapy Register from 1983 to 1987.

Personal life[link]

Dylan Morgan married Trudi Yates, a fellow student at Oxford, in 1969. They had a daughter in 1981.

In February 2011 he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and despite an operation to remove the tumour died on the 5th of March. His funeral was held at Lawnswood Crematorium in Leeds on the 22nd of March 2011.

Since his school days he had a keen interest in chess and later on he noted playing chess and making chess boards as his hobbies. He also maintained a number of web sites for chess clubs in the Leeds area.^[8][9]

Bibliography[link]

• DS Jones; JD Morgan (1974). "A Linear Model of a Finite Amplitude Helmholtz Instability". Proceedings, Series A, Mathematical and Physical Sciences (Royal Society of London) 338 (1612): 17–41. http://rspa.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/338/1612/17.short. 
• JD Morgan (July 29, 1975). "The interaction of sound with a subsonic cylindrical vortex layer". Proceedings, Series A, Mathematical and Physical Sciences (Royal Society of London) 344 (1638): 341–362. http://rspa.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/344/1638/341.short. 
• J. D. Morgan (November 1974). "The interaction of sound with a semiinfinite vortex sheet". Quarterly Journal of Mechanics and Applied Mathematics 27 (4): 465–487. http://qjmam.oxfordjournals.org/content/27/4/465.short. 
• JD Morgan (22 December 1982). "Non-linear effect in high speed rotor noise". Journal of Sound and Vibration 85 (4): 501–511. DOI:10.1016/0022-460X(82)90319-4. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0022460X82903194. 
• Dylan Morgan (1996). Principles of Hypnotherapy. Eildon Press. ISBN 978-0-9525620-1-6. http://www.dylanmorgan.org/BookPrinciplesHypnosis.htm. 
• Dylan Morgan (2008). Hypnosis for Beginners. Eildon Press. ISBN 978-0-9525620-4-7. http://www.dylanmorgan.org/BookHypnosisForBeginners.htm. 

References[link]

External links[link]

• Dylan Morgan's Website

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (July 2010)

Reuben Morgan on the Hillsong concert in Zagreb

Reuben Morgan is the worship pastor and one of several worship leaders and songwriters alongside Darlene Zschech at the Hillsong Church in Sydney, Australia. He has written songs such as "Eagles Wings", "Hear Our Praises", "I Give You My Heart", "My Redeemer Lives" and "Mighty to Save", which won the 'Best Worship Song' category at the 2009 GMA Dove Awards.^[1] In 2005 his first solo worship album, World Through Your Eyes, debuted at #3 in the Australian Christian Charts. The album was also released in Canada.

In 2005, Morgan signed with Rocketown Records, owned by Michael W. Smith. The company released his debut album in the United States, but four of the original songs were removed in favour of cover versions of Hillsong songs written by Morgan. In addition, the remaining songs were remixed and the resulting songs had a heavier feel when compared to the softer adult contemporary-style originals.

Morgan has toured extensively around the United States, Canada and Europe. A 2007 European tour featured events in Scotland, England, Germany and Sweden.^[2] His latest personal album, Everyone, contains Morgan's interpretation of his music and was mostly written in the previous 18 months, recorded in a big sounding, studio worship without the congregational elements found in the Hillsong Live albums.^[3] Everyone largely featured covers of previously released Hillsong songs written by Morgan and was released in Australia on 2 October 2006.

Morgan officially became Hillsong's new worship pastor in 2008, replacing Darlene Zschech, however, Zschech continues to be a part of the Hillsong Worship Team. He is married to Sarah ^[4] and they have three children.

On 29 June 2010, Hillsong Live was released A Beautiful Exchange, an album featuring songs by Morgan. Reuben Morgan led Hillsong's 2010 tour of the United States, which kicked off on 21 July and included events in Dallas, Detroit and Los Angeles.^{[5] [6]}

Songs[link]

Songs written or co-written by Morgan appear on the following albums:

• God Is in the House (1996)
  • "I Give You My Heart"
• All Things Are Possible (1997)
  • "In Your Hands"
  • "Your Love"
• Touching Heaven Changing Earth (1998)
  • "Touching Heaven, Changing Earth"
  • "Lord Your Goodness"
  • "You Are Holy"
  • "You Gave Me Love"
• By Your Side (1999)
  • "My Redeemer Lives"
  • "You Unfailing Love"
  • "What the Lord Has Done in Me"
  • "You Said"
  • "Eagles Wings"
  • "This Is How We Overcome"
• Everyday (1999)
  • "On the Lord's Day"
  • "More"
  • "Heaven"
• For This Cause (2000)
  • "One Day"
  • "Faith"
  • "You Are Near"
  • "Lifted Me High Again"
• Best Friend (2000)
  • "Jesus Generation"
• You Are My World (2001)
  • "Everything That Has Breath"
  • "Your Love Is Beautiful" with Raymond Badham, Steve McPherson, Nigel Hendroff
  • "God So Loved"
• King of Majesty (2001)
  • "Most High"
  • "I Adore"
• Blessed (2002)
  • "Blessed" with Darlene Zschech
  • "Through It All"
  • "I Adore"
  • "With You"
  • "Most High"
  • "All the Heavens"
• To the Ends of the Earth (2002)
  • "Need You Here"
  • "Glory"
• Hope (2003)
  • "Need You Here"
  • "Still"
  • "Glory"
  • "Highest"
• More Than Life (2003)
  • "Sing (Your Love)"
  • "More Than Life"
• For All You've Done (2004)
  • "For All You've Done"
  • "With All I Am"
  • "Sing (Your Love)"
  • "More Than Life"
  • "To You Alone"
• World Through Your Eyes (2004)
  • "Christ Divine" with Mia Fieldes
• God He Reigns (2005)
  • "Let Creation Sing"
  • "Emmanuel"
  • "Let Us Adore"
• Mighty to Save (2006)
  • "You Alone Are God" with Ben Fielding
  • "At The Cross" with Darlene Zschech
  • "Mighty to Save" with Fielding (winner of 2009 Dove Award for 'Best Worship Song')
• Everyone (2006)
  • "All for You" with Fielding
• Saviour King (2007)
  • "You Are My Strength"
  • "You Saw Me" with Fielding & Fieldes
• The I Heart Revolution: With Hearts As One (2008)
  • "Mighty To Save" with Fielding
  • "More Than Life"
• This Is Our God (2008)
  • "This Is Our God"
  • "Stronger" with Fielding
  • "Across The Earth" with Matt Crocker & Mike Gulielmucci
  • "Where We Belong" with Joel Davies
• [a_CROSS//the_EARTH] :: Tear Down the Walls (2008)
  • "Freedom Is Here" with Scott Ligertwood
  • "You Hold Me Now" with Matt Crocker
• Faith + Hope + Love (2009)
  • "The First and The Last" with Joel Houston
  • "For Your Name" with Jad Gillies and Joel Houston
  • "Yahweh"
  • "We Will See Him" with Robert Fergusson
  • "You Hold Me Now" with Matt Crocker
• A Beautiful Exchange (2010)
  • "Open My Eyes" with Braden Lang
  • "Forever Reign" with Jason Ingram
  • "Greatness Of Our God" With Jason Ingram and Stu Garrard
  • "Believe" With Darlene Zschech
  • "Thank You" with Ben Fielding
• Aftermath (2011)
  • "Awakening" with Chris Tomlin
• God Is Able (2011)
  • "With Us" with Dylan Thomas
  • "God Is Able" with Ben Fielding
  • "Alive In Us" with Jason Ingram
  • "Awakening" with Chris Tomlin
  • "God In Everything" with Fielding
• Cornerstone (2012)
  • "Love Knows No End" with Ben Fielding and Harrison Wood
  • "Hope Of The World" with Jason Ingram and Matthew Bronleewee
  • "All My Hope" with Jason Ingram
  • "Love So High" with Matt Redman, Chris Tomlin, and Jason Ingram
  • "Stand In Awe" with Ben Fielding
  • "Cornerstone" with Edward Mote, Eric Liljero, and Jonas Myrin

See also[link]

• Darlene Zschech
• Extravagant Worship: The Songs of Reuben Morgan
• Hillsong Music
• Hillsong musicians
• List of Hillsong albums
• List of Hillsong songs

Notes and references[link]

External links[link]

• Reuben Morgan's official website
• Reuben Morgan's ministry website

Dylan Marlais Thomas (27 October 1914 – 9 November 1953) was a Welsh poet and writer^[1][2] who wrote exclusively in English. In addition to poetry, he wrote short stories and scripts for film and radio, which he often performed himself. His public readings, particularly in America, won him great acclaim; his sonorous voice with a subtle Welsh lilt became almost as famous as his works. His best-known works include the "play for voices" Under Milk Wood and the celebrated villanelle for his dying father, "Do not go gentle into that good night". Appreciative critics have also noted the craftsmanship and compression of poems such as "In my Craft or Sullen Art",^[3] and the rhapsodic lyricism in "And death shall have no dominion" and "Fern Hill".

Life and career[link]

Early life[link]

Dylan Thomas was born in the Uplands area of Swansea, Glamorgan, Wales, on 27 October 1914 just a few months after the Thomas family had bought the house. Uplands was, and still is, one of the more affluent areas of the city.

5 Cwmdonkin Drive, Swansea, birthplace of Dylan Thomas

His father, David John Thomas (1876–1952), had attained a first-class honours degree in English at University College, Aberystwyth, and was dissatisfied with his position at the local grammar school as an English master who taught English literature.^[4] His mother, Florence Hannah Thomas (née Williams) (1882–1958), was a seamstress born in Swansea. Nancy, Thomas's sister, (Nancy Marles 1906–1953) was nine years older than he. Their father brought up both children to speak only English, even though he and his wife were both bilingual in English and Welsh. David was even known to give Welsh lessons at home.

Dylan is pronounced ˈdəlan in Welsh, and in the early part of his career some announcers introduced him using this pronunciation. However, Thomas himself favoured the anglicised pronunciation /ˈdɪlən/.^[4] A review of a biography by Andrew Lycett (2004) notes: "Florence, the boy’s mother, had her doubts about the odd name: the correct Welsh pronunciation, which the family used, is “Dullan,” and she worried that other children would tease him by calling him “dull one.” Later, when broadcasting on the Welsh service of the BBC, Dylan Thomas had to instruct the announcers to say "'Dillan,' the way he himself pronounced it".^[5] His middle name, Marlais, was given to him in honour of his great-uncle, Unitarian minister William Thomas, whose bardic name was Gwilym Marles.^[4]

His childhood was spent largely in Swansea, with regular summer trips to visit his maternal aunts' Carmarthenshire farms.^[6] These rural sojourns and the contrast with the town life of Swansea provided inspiration for much of his work, notably many short stories, radio essays, and the poem Fern Hill. Thomas was known to be a sickly child who suffered from bronchitis and asthma. He shied away from school and preferred reading on his own. He was considered too frail to fight in World War II, instead serving the war effort by writing scripts for the government. Thomas's formal education began at Mrs. Hole's Dame school, a private school which was situated a few streets away on Mirador Crescent. He described his experience there in Quite Early One Morning:^[7]

Never was there such a dame school as ours, so firm and kind and smelling of galoshes, with the sweet and fumbled music of the piano lessons drifting down from upstairs to the lonely schoolroom, where only the sometimes tearful wicked sat over undone sums, or to repent a little crime — the pulling of a girl's hair during geography, the sly shin kick under the table during English literature.

In October 1925, Thomas attended the single-sex Swansea Grammar School, in the Mount Pleasant district of the city, where his father taught. He was an undistinguished student. Thomas's first poem was published in the school's magazine. He later became its editor.^[4] He began keeping poetry notebooks and amassed 200 poems in four such journals between 1930 and 1934.^[4] He left school at 16 to become a reporter for the local newspaper, the South Wales Daily Post, only to leave the job under pressure 18 months later in 1932. After leaving the job he filled his notebooks even faster. Of the 90 poems he published, half were written during these first years.^[4] He then joined an amateur dramatic group in Mumbles called Little Theatre (Now Known as Swansea Little Theatre), but still continued to work as a freelance journalist for a few more years.

Dylan Thomas Theatre Home of Swansea Little Theatre

Dylan's £5 writing shed in Laugharne, Carmarthenshire

Thomas spent his time visiting the cinema in the Uplands, walking along Swansea Bay, visiting a theatre where he used to perform, and frequenting Swansea's pubs. He especially patronised those in the Mumbles area such the Antelope Hotel and the Mermaid Hotel. A short walk from the local newspaper where he worked was the Kardomah Café in Castle Street, central Swansea. At the café he met with various artist contemporaries, such as his good friend the poet Vernon Watkins. These writers, musicians and artists became known as 'The Kardomah Gang'. In 1932, Thomas embarked on what would be one of his various visits to London.

In February 1941, Swansea was bombed by the German Luftwaffe in a "three nights' blitz". Castle Street was just one of the many streets in Swansea that suffered badly; the rows of shops, including the 'Kardomah Café', were destroyed. Thomas later wrote about this in his radio play Return Journey Home, in which he describes the café as being "razed to the snow". Return Journey Home was first broadcast on 15 June 1947, having been written soon after the bombing raids. Thomas walked through the bombed-out shell of the town centre with his friend Bert Trick. Upset at the sight, he concluded: "Our Swansea is dead".^[8] The Kardomah Café later reopened on Portland Street, not far from the original location.

Career and family[link]

Statue of Dylan Thomas, outside the Dylan Thomas Theatre at the Marina, Swansea

It is often commented that Thomas was indulged like a child and he was, in fact, still a teenager when he published many of the poems he would become famous for: “And death shall have no dominion" “Before I Knocked” and “The Force That Through the Green Fuse Drives the Flower". "And death shall have no dominion", appeared in the New English Weekly in May 1933^[4]and further work appeared in The Listener in 1934 catching the attention of two of the most senior poets of the day T. S. Eliot and Stephen Spender. His highly acclaimed first poetry volume, 18 Poems, was published on 18 December 1934, and went on to win a contest run by The Sunday Referee, netting him new admirers from the London poetry world, including Edith Sitwell. The anthology was published by Fortune Press, which did not pay its writers and expected them to buy a certain number of copies themselves. A similar arrangement would later be used by a number of other new authors, including Philip Larkin.

His passionate musical lyricism caused a sensation in these years of desiccated Modernism; the critic Desmond Hawkins said it was “the sort of bomb that bursts no more than once in three years”.^[4][9] In all, he wrote half of his poems while living at 5 Cwmdonkin Drive before he moved to London.^[10] It was also the time that Thomas's reputation for heavy drinking developed.^[9][11]

In the spring of 1936, Dylan Thomas met dancer Caitlin Macnamara in the Wheatsheaf pub, in the Fitzrovia area of London's West End. They were introduced by Augustus John, who was Macnamara's lover at the time (there were rumours that she continued her relationship with John after she married Thomas). A drunken Thomas proposed to Macnamara on the spot, and the two began a courtship.^[12] On 11 July 1937, Thomas married Macnamara in a register office in Penzance, Cornwall.^[13] In 1938, the couple rented a cottage in the village of Laugharne, Carmarthenshire, West Wales. Their first child, Llewelyn Edouard, was born on 30 January 1939 (d. 2000). Their daughter, Aeronwy Thomas-Ellis, was born on 3 March 1943 (d. 2009). A second son, Colm Garan Hart, was born on 24 July 1949.

Wartime and after[link]

At the outset of the Second World War, Thomas was designated C3, which meant that although he could, in theory, be called up for service he would be in one of the last groups to be so. He was saddened to see his friends enter active service leaving him behind and drank whilst struggling to support his family. He lived on tiny fees from writing and reviewing and borrowed heavily from friends and acquaintances, writing begging letters to random literary figures in hope of support, envisaging this as a plan of long term regular income.^[4] He wrote to the director of the films division of the Ministry of Information asking for employment but after a rebuff eventually ended up working for Strand Films. Strand produced films for the Ministry of Information and Thomas scripted at least five in 1942 with titles such as This Is Colour (about dye), New Towns For Old, These Are The Men and Our Country (a sentimental tour of Britain).^[14] He actively sought to build a reputation as a raconteur and outrageous writer, heavy drinker and wit.^[4]

The publication of Deaths and Entrances in 1946 was a major turning point for Thomas. Poet and critic W. J. Turner commented in The Spectator "This book alone, in my opinion, ranks him as a major poet".^[15] Thomas was well known for being a versatile and dynamic speaker, best known for his poetry readings. He made over 200 broadcasts for the BBC.

Often considered his greatest single work, Under Milk Wood, a radio play featuring the characters of Llareggub, is set in a fictional Welsh fishing village ('Llareggub' is 'Bugger All' backwards, implying that there is absolutely nothing to do there). The BBC credited their producer Stella Hillier with ensuring the play actually materialised. Assigned "some of the more wayward characters who were then writing for the BBC", she dragged the notoriously unreliable Thomas out of the pub and back to her office to finish the work.^[16] The play took several years to write, the first half mostly in South Leigh, Oxford, in 1948, whilst the second half was mostly written in America in May 1953. Fewer than 300 lines were written in Laugharne, according to one account, which also explains the influence of New Quay on the play.^[17]

New York[link]

John Malcolm Brinnin invited Thomas to New York and in 1950 embarked on a lucrative three month tour of arts centres and campuses in the States. He toured there again in 1952, this time with Caitlin, who discovered that he had been unfaithful on his 1950 trip. They both drank heavily, as if in competition, Thomas's health beginning to suffer with gout and lung problems. Thomas performed a 'work in progress' version of Under Milk Wood solo for the first time on 3 May at Harvard during his early 1953 US tour, and then with a cast at the Poetry Centre in New York on 14 May. He worked on the play further in Wales, where in its completed form it premiered the Lyric Theatre, Carmarthen, Wales on 8 October 1953,^[18] just 12 miles away from Laugharne. It was said Thomas gave a 'supreme virtuoso performance'. He then travelled to London and on 19 October he flew to America.^[18] He died in New York on 5 November 1953 before the BBC could record the play.^[19] Richard Burton starred in the first broadcast in 1954 and was joined by Elizabeth Taylor in a subsequent film.

Thomas's last collection Collected Poems, 1934–1952, published when he was 38, won the Foyle poetry prize. He wrote "Do not go gentle into that good night", a villanelle, to his dying father, who passed away in 1952, one of the poet's last poems.

Death[link]