John Leonard Craven was born on 8 August 1935 in Wigan, the son of Frank and Edith Craven. He qualified MB, ChB in 1960 from Manchester University Medical School and, having married the following year, he and his wife decided to explore foreign places. At first they planned to work in the Far East but their chosen destination, Borneo, turned out to be suffering great civil unrest so they travelled to Africa. They settled in Uganda where John worked at the Mulago Hospital and with Ian McAdam who was professor of surgery at Makerere University in Kampala. After a meeting to which he was escorted at gun point, he became friendly with General Idi Amin and he became his family’s doctor. Although invited to remain in Uganda, the Cravens opted to return to the UK to meet the educational needs of their growing family. They settled initially in Wales where he worked as a senior lecturer in surgery with Leslie Hughes, the professor of surgery at the University of Wales College of Medicine in Cardiff. While there he developed innovative methods in the surgical treatment of stomach cancer and developed international contacts in the field. He then moved to York District Hospital where he was appointed consultant surgeon. Teaching was an important part of the job for him and he was the joint author of several highly successful textbooks with John S. P. Lumley including *Essential anatomy* (Edinburgh, Churchill Livingstone, 1987) also with John T. Aitken; *Surgical review 1, 2 and 3* (Tunbridge Wells, Pitman, various dates) and *Surgical multiple choice questions (Revision MCQs)* (Edinburgh, Churchill Livingstone, 1985). He enjoyed playing tennis, climbing, mountain walking and writing. Africa always held a special place in his heart and he was quick to respond to requests for teaching from African countries. In 1961 he married Pauline and they had three daughters and a son. A convivial man with a good sense of humour, he died from a coronary thrombosis after an evening in the pub with friends on 14 December 2022, aged 87. He was survived by his wife, children and nine grandchildren.