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So, here’s odd.
Back in the early/mid 90s I studied Medieval English at Sheffield University where I met my good friend Tim Higgins. We spent many happy hours in the pub over a couple of years, putting the world to rights and arguing about art, literature, music.
Back in the early/mid 90s I studied Medieval English at Sheffield University where I met my good friend Tim Higgins. We spent many happy hours in the pub over a couple of years, putting the world to rights and arguing about art, literature, music.
I saw him a couple of times after we graduated, but he kept moving about and my only reliable number for him was his Dad’s. So staying in touch was challenging. The last time I spoke to him was in 1997, I think, when I phoned to thank him for a bottle of wine he’d sent me.
I’ve often wondered what happened to him, and regretted not having made more of an effort to stay in touch. This has not been helped by the fact that, as far as the Internet seems to be concerned, he is a ghost. In fact, he’s not there at all. No social media AFAICS.
Yesterday my mum phoned to tell me that the owner of the house I grew up in had been in touch to say a letter had arrived addressed to me. (It’s lucky my mum stayed in touch - she sold it ~15 years ago.) So the owner kindly forwarded it to my current address.
It’s from Tim, after 23-odd years. Not a letter, but a brief note on a photocopy of two photos of him performing in a Mummers play I directed in Sheffield. He’d also cut out one of the pics and stuck it on the envelope.
He also enclosed a copy of a short film script I wrote in the early 90s. (The answer to his question is: the bloke who I was talking to about directing hated it, so... nothing. It’s juvenilia, but there are some nice proto-Spaced-style flourishes.)
So, a bloke I’ve been trying to track down for the best part of two decades finally gets in touch, via a route so roundabout as to be absurdly haphazard. And does he include any contact details? A return address in case my mum has moved after 23 years?
Does he bollocks.
Does he bollocks.
So here’s my question, Twitter chums: how on earth do I find this guy who apparently exists so far off the grid that he doesn’t so much as graze the Internet?
You’re thinking, “There must be a postmark!” right?
Good luck with that.
You’re thinking, “There must be a postmark!” right?
Good luck with that.
That’s him in the picture. Tim Higgins, graduated in Medieval English Language and Literature, Sheffield University 1995. May have been living in Kingston circa 1997. Absolutely hopeless with basic contact etiquette. Catch-up long overdue. Advice welcome. Fin.
