I am posting this tribute to my dear brother Richard on Monday, 27 January 2020, the date on which - had he lived just a few days longer - he would have been celebrating his 75th birthday.
Rich and I grew up with our sisters Miriam and Madeleine at 35 Shenley Avenue, Ruislip Manor, and at 20 Oak Grove, Eastcote. I was two years older than Rich; and I know that, like the rest of us, he hated his early years at primary school. Things improved for him as he grew older and attended secondary school, but in truth he just couldn't wait to leave and go to work. He had a variety of jobs in his teens, but couldn't really settle in any of them. The consolation for Rich as he drifted from job to job is that he palled around with a great group of guys, including Bill Heath, Horace (known as 'H'), Keith Hart, Bill Carson and Ken Reece. Their nightly haunt was the Clay Pigeon pub in Eastcote, where rock group The Sweet cut their musical teeth. I also recall The Temperance Seven playing there. Rich was then fortunate enough to meet Janet Middleton, who, together with her big-hearted and generous mother Beth, had a beneficially steadying influence on him. Rich and Jan eventually married and moved to Bracknell in Berkshire with their children Marc and Richelle. Rich joined the local Ambulance Service and from then on was know as Ricky the Ambulance Man.
The family eventually emigrated to the United States, where he studied hard for two years to qualify as a registered nurse, enabling him to do valuable work in hospitals and care homes. He developed a great interest in plants and flowers and could name each of them in Latin -- pretty impressive stuff for someone who, by his own admission, was a bit of a duffer at school. It was so sad that he developed a form of Parkinson's disease, following which his life slipped into a slow but steady decline and, inevitably, his untimely death.
Rest in peace, Rich. You were one of life's great characters. The memories will linger on.
Michael Taub
28/01/2020