Salut! Folk

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Colin Randall writes: my brother Phil died today, May 26, at 7.48am. His sons Steven and Matthew were there with their partners, Jodie and Alice, surrounding his bedside as he breathed his last. 

Our sister Sandra’s poem

I awoke to the news. Having seen Phil on three of his final seven days, I feared today would be his last and intended to go to the Gravesend hospice where he received such kind and supportive attention in the last phase of his life.

Of course I am heartbroken. But I’m also grateful to have known and loved him. I admire his achievements as a rugby player and as a man; his sons stand in shining witness to his paternal care and skills, all the more necessary after his wife Chris, their mum, died 19 years ago.

Although rugby was Phil’s sporting life – he played at a very decent level, Darlington and Dartford, and then served as referee and refereeing assessor – he was also a Sunderland supporter. And he loved folk music so was all round suited to these pages (like me, my Salut! Live collaborators Andrew Curry and Bill Taylor are also SAFC fans).

Bill posted this lovely tribute at Facebook: “I remember Phil so well, though it’s a long, long time since we laboured together building a stage from beer crates at the Aclet Hotel in Bishop Auckland for the Sunday night folk club. And then often, Phil would be up there belting out songs unaccompanied.

“He was indomitable, one of a kind. Not someone we can easily afford to lose. RIP”

I’ve had more to say about Phil:

https://open.substack.com/pub/francesalut/p/farewell-phil-my-kid-brother?r=depeg&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true

But let me leave you with a track I find utterly appropriate. Rest easy little brother, big man … 

E