Back in the 1960s wasn't there a shop in Queens Road called Brighton Surgical Appliances. It was full of nasty, but necessary, medical items and equipment that looked like it was from a set of a horror film. I always remember crossing the road every time I was about to pass it.
His name was Noel Brooks and he mysteriously disappeared in 2002. I had a friend who used to go in there a lot in the early 80s and used to chat to him which was unusual because Noel didn't usually bother to engage with his customers. Unfortunately my friend was also a bit of a kleptomaniac especially with regards to books and he wasn't averse to pocketing some of Noel's stock when he was in there. I used to tell him he was out of order given the fact he was on quite friendly terms with Noel and also the fact he was just a small independent bookseller. One day while on one of his book lifting sprees and after having left Noel's shop with some of his merchandise my friend then went to another shop and got caught. The police were called and they found all these books on him from various shops, some of which were from Noel which the police deduced from the price codes written in them. They returned the books to Noel and as a result he discovered that the one customer he bothered to engage with had been stealing from him. My friend was really embarrassed and wrote Noel a letter of apology. Noel's response was to invite him to tea at his flat in Lansdowne. I went along too and Noel told us a bit about his life most of which escapes me, but he travelled a lot when he was younger and spent a bit of time in Russia. He also revealed he was gay which is something he had in common with my friend. When he found out I was straight he then went on try and convince me thay that I was a repressed homosexual based on the fact that I had the top button of my shirt done up. It was the early 80s and that was a bit of a fashion at the time but it obviously wasn't something he was aware of. He got quite insistent and wouldn't accept my denials. Anyway we eventually left, 20 years later Noel disappeared and my book thieving friend became a teacher. Here are some links to the Argus articles of the time he disappeared.
Have you not heard of Dorian Grey? Seems like a much more logical explanation to me.
How come you say you live in Brighton, appear to have so little awareness of your surroundings, and can glibly dismiss Sing Li as 'grubby' and 'crap' without apparently ever having any prior knowledge of that genuinely cherished establishment?
Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but says WAY more about you than it does about Sing Li.
