Diane Lathbury
was born in 1944, grew up in Stoke-on-Trent and moved to Coventry aged eighteen to attend teacher-training college at what is now the University of Warwick. She fell in love with her adopted city where she became a primary school teacher, married, created a home, raised two daughters and fulfilled her love of music by singing in local choirs. The city’s theme of ‘Peace and Reconciliation’ was tremendously attractive to her instincts that ‘love can conquer all the world’s ills’. This was not simply a sentimental love, but one promoted through practical action in small everyday ways. This philosophy guided her actions during her life, and as a result influenced many people – her pupils, the unseen beneficiaries of her Amnesty International letters to foreign governments and those she met and cared for as a volunteer in her city centre church. Diane died too soon in 2013.
The music for this anthem was written by close friend David Freeman, and the words by Diane’s husband, David Lathbury. It is dedicated to the memory of Diane and to ensuring that the love she was determined to promote continues to live through others.
First performance:
Saint Michael’s Singers, Directed by Paul Leddington Wright, Warwick Road United Reformed Church, Coventry, on 18 June 2016