COLIN MEDHURST 1936–2005
I came back from China to learn that my oldest friend had died after a six-month illness. Half a century ago Colin was the first person I ever saw wearing an Italian suit — a decade before “mods”. He, Brian, Josh, Mickey and I spent most of our free time together for several years: in dancehalls (Welling Embassy, Tottenham Royal, The Lyceum, Streatham Locarno) and modern jazz clubs (Studio 51, The Flamingo). Sharp, intelligent and literate, he was a boiler-maker by trade. Rosina’s letter said:
Colin died after six months of illness. He had mesethelioma – asbestos-related cancer – as a result of working at G.E.C. Erith in the late 1950s, early 1960s. I nursed him at home, as was his wish.
The lagging used in boilers then is now illegal. We danced with those fibres in his lungs. He died in his own bed, lucid to the end. One daughter: Sally.
