HW: Various

[Jon Jarrett]

On Fri, 2 Jul 2004, Doug Pearson wrote:

> Date: Fri, 2 Jul 2004 19:18:09 -0400
> From: Doug Pearson <jasret at MINDSPRING.COM>
> Reply-To: BOC/Hawkwind Discussion List <BOC-L at LISTSERV.ISPNETINC.NET>
> To: BOC-L at LISTSERV.ISPNETINC.NET
> Subject: Re: HW: Various
>
> Nice to see some input from someone with (unlike me) professional
> knowledge ...
>
> On Fri, 2 Jul 2004 14:47:13 -0400, Nick Medford <nickmedford at HOTMAIL.COM>
> wrote:
>
> >Going back to Syd Barrett, I read (admittedly in a Sunday newspaper rather
> >than anywhere scientifically reputable) that he has never been given any
> >formal psychiatric diagnosis, and never been sectioned. I got the
> >impression that while he surely does have his problems, he is not
> >quite the acid-fried casualty of popular myth.
>
> He's been living with his mum for over 30 years (just like Roky
> Erickson!), which, I would think, would keep him out of clinics &
> hospitals as long as he's non-violent.  I have heard that he has
> considerable physical health problems (diabetes, for starters) these
> days.  It's clear that whatever it was that happened to him made it sadly
> impossible for him to continue his promising musical career.

        Supposedly his sister these days, his mother having died a while
back. He's bald these days, and quite heavy-set, and one wouldn't
necessarily take him for anything other than a confused townie now I
think.

        I tried searching the Cambridge Evening News archive for the story
I remembered, but it's not there. Google does produce one reasonably
articulate article including a recent interview (not very enlightening),
at:

<http://observer.guardian.co.uk/magazine/story/0,11913,804928,00.html>

        And this generic page has what seems to be a recent picture at the
top:

<http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Studio/6741/sydinfo.htm>

        Yours,
               Jon

--
                Jonathan Jarrett, Birkbeck College, London
    jjarrett at chiark.greenend.org.uk/ejarr01 at students.bbk.ac.uk
  "As much as the vision of the blind man improves with the rising sun,
       So too does the intelligence of the fool after good advice."
       (Bishop Theodulf of Orleans, late-eight/early-ninth century)