Simon

Simon Hobart's Obituary was published in the Guardian yesterday, with huge black and white version the picture I used below.

It's weird reading about someone I knew in the papers like this. It doesn't really give an impression of Simon as I knew him. He seems less real in the articles I've been reading regarding his life and death. We weren't close buddies, but I'd see him on a regular basis and sometimes we'd stop and have a little chat if he wasn't rushing around.

For the first few years I knew him I thought he didn't like me much, but it turned out that- for a club promoter on the gay scene- he was a bit shy and self-conscious.
After I got to know him a bit better (mainly through mutual friend Tommy) he would let me into the nights for free without guest-list, and once even apologised for asking me to pay a reduced entry fee during a night of poor takings at The Ghetto. During a Suede give-away at Miss-Shapes a few years back he ensured that I got a prize because he knew how much I loved the band. The autographed framed poster still hangs on my wall.

Basically, he was generous to and respected the regulars and recognised when someone shared his passions. That's what you don't read about in the press.