Back in the seventies, my favourite folk singer was Gordon Lightfoot, a Canadian.

I thought his ballads were beautiful, yet he had the reputation of downing a bottle of bourban every day, and various other self-defeating habits.

I had painted a sort of double portrait of his, as both the man and the minstrel, and I wrote this poem on the back of the portrait.

When I took my mother to see her brother in Toronto, and to see the Fall colours (glorious!) I took the painting with me.

After three weeks of being too scared to do anything about it, and thinking I was too old for this lark, I suddenly said to my uncle that I was going downtown to find his office and hand it in there. My uncle said I would get caught up in the rush hour,
it was then three thirty, but no, I had to go then or I would lose courage and have to take it home with me!

I got on the tube, then a bus, and finally found this office. I entered and there were two girls sitting at desks. I asked if I could see the manager and one of them, his sister Bev, said he was on the phone and would I like to sit down for a moment.

I had just sat down, when the outer door opened, and in walked the singer himself! He had only popped in to find the time of a next day appointment. He smiled and said 'hello' just as the manager came out to see what I wanted.

I plucked up courage and asked Gordon if he would accept the painting. He did and thought the poem was great. He sat down and chatted for twenty minutes, such a very nice chap.

The upshot was that the following year, he gave up the booze!!! I like to kid myself that it was the poem that helped him.  Yeah, right! But a strange co-incidence!

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Sorry Phil, a touch of 'religion' but my view of God has nothing to do with what passes for religion in this world!