From Wikipedia
John Richard Holman FRPSL (4 February 1950 - 10 June 2017) was the editor of the British Philatelic Bulletin from 1988 to 2010 and a fellow of the Royal Philatelic Society London.
Holman had been a philatelist since 1957 and his collecting interests include British private posts, postal stationery, postal labels, postmarks and government mail.
John started collecting at the age of 7 and his working life gave him an excellent background for philatelic writing. After a few years working in the Civil Service (work he said was 'unfulfilling'), he joined Stanley Gibbons in 1980 as assistant to the catalogue editor, and edited Gibbons Stamp Monthly from 1985-88. He left Gibbons to join Royal Mail as editor of the Philatelic Bulletin and the Postmark Bulletin, which he continued until 2010.
I only met John once, almost certainly at one of the London exhibition Post and Go stands, probably London 2010. He was happy to chat to all and any collector - a very nice man. His writing in GSM and the Philatelic Bulletin was always interesting, and it is a measure of the man that his obituary in the Bulletin (from which some of the above is taken) was written by John himself, while in hospital.
Our condolences to his family and friends.
I corresponded occasionally with John when he was editor of the Philatelic Bulletin, and in recent years I have always read his work in Gibbons Stamp Monthly, even when it was about areas I don't collect. I met him a few times at stamp shows in London, and as you said, he was always pleasant and willing to chat. He will definitely be missed.
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