GOODBYE HAROLD

On Christmas Eve 1968 the SA Oranje docked in Southampton and we caught the train to London. Christmas Day was a disaster with absolutely nothing open anywhere to have a meal in the centre of the city ………. we finally ended up in a Wimpy alongside the entrance to the Regent’s Park Hotel where the only thing on the menu was chips. What an exciting Christmas dinner that was. 

On Boxing Day we met up with Pat’s cousin, Harold Brassel, who had at that stage already been resident in London for about 15 years. A gentler, more accommodating soul you simply could not wish to meet, and we became lifelong friends, meeting regularly during our seven something years sojourn in the UK, and then again, after Harold moved back to South Africa, as often as we were able considering it meant commutes between Cape Town and Hermanus on the Cape South Coast.

Harold, Pan Awsumb and myself at our flat at 44 Grays Inn Road - 1971

This year as always we tried to call Harold on the 28th February - his birthday - only to receive a message that the number no longer existed. Pat called her brother Kevin to confirm the number, and after he had the same problem he contacted the retirement home where Harold lived only to be told that he had passed away sometime last year.

Harold was getting on - yes - he was probably close to ninety or thereabouts, but the last time we spoke to him he was fully compos mentis, even if a little deaf, so this came as somewhat of a shock. He was a very organized person and always kept all relevant information regarding family and friends in a book that he would proudly consult whenever mention of contacts over the years arose, and I find it quite astounding that his sister’s children who benefitted quite extensively from the sale of his house in Hermanus at no stage took the time to consult this book and contact his family in Pretoria and Cape Town, all of whom we know were listed in that book.

One wonders at what must have been a very lonely - and frightening - period for him as he approached death ………… despite his remarkable intellect, which I am sure he used to rationalize the situation. But more - I wonder who, if anyone, attended his funeral, and if there was a memorial service of any kind?

Sad ……….. very sad, that such a remarkable intellect and really superb artist should end his days in this way. Happily we have a couple of his engravings to remember him by, along with a beautiful litho print of zebras out on the plains ………….. along with the memories of many evenings spent with him and some of his fascinating friends ………. as well as days and evenings spent at our places in London and Henley with a variety of our friends who enjoyed Harold as much as we did.

I recall our first ever sojourn out into the streets of London shortly after we arrived there - the No.1 hit of the day was Lily the Pink by a group called Scaffold, and Harold took us along to a pub somewhere in Picadilly to see them live. The Scaffold were a comedy, poetry and music trio from Liverpool, England, consisting of musical performer Mike McGear, poet Roger McGough and comic entertainer John Gorman. Roger McGough was at the time the British Poet Laureate and Mike McGear (real name Peter Michael McCartney), was the brother of Paul McCartney, so for us this initial introduction to the London Pop Culture was really something special ………….. but only the first of a great many wonderful memories of the period and our life (before kids) in “Swinging London”.

Thank you Harold.

Harold, Pat and Pat's sister Maureen in Hermanus - April 2008

Harold at Mogg's Country Cookhouse, Hemel en Aarde Valley - 2015

The last time we saw Harold was about five years ago, we had gone through to Hermanus to collect him and then out to the always very beautiful Hemel en Aarde Valley and the most wonderful lunch at a little family restaurant called Moggs Country Cookhouse (if you’re in the area be sure to make a booking), where we had a great meal and sat for a long time chatting about old times and old friends, ticking off all sorts of boxes. We’re really going to miss you my friend - have a good journey wherever it might take you.

On a slightly brighter note, Harold was almost as a big a fan of the whole Monty Python phenomenon as I was, and I am sure that he would have enjoyed Eric Idle’s quite remarkable Sortabiography as much as I have. Lee and Chavane gave me this as a Christmas/Birthday gift this year and I am deeply grateful. What a rollicking read from a man who has simply never stopped creating and forming close and lasting friendships with virtually everyone in Showbiz, from George Harrison and the Beatles through to Paul Simon, Director Mike Nichols, and a great many more names that encompass the last 50 years of British and American Stage, Screen and Music Stars. Not to be missed!