Roger Keith 'Syd' Barrett
6 January 1946 – 7 July 2006

Today is the Anniversary of Roger's death.
I'm not sure quite how I should mark this as I am loathe to write words that may be hacked and manipulated by any good folk of the 'press'.

Be it good or bad, I knew that Roger's death was sadly near before it was common knowledge.
His suffering was mercifully short, and he managed to get home before the end. I know this meant a lot to him, and he was very keen to be released from hospital.
He had very good palliative care, and it was a comfort to get back to the house that he so loved.

When I got the call to tell me that he had died, this was obviously very upsetting, but the weirdest thing was the day it was revealed to the public.
This came in a press release from - I think EMI - and I was at work at the time. I didn't know when this would happen, and had thought it might have been sooner than it was ( I found out on the Saturday, and it wasn't released until the following Wednesday.)
At the office in which I worked everyone checked the BBC news throughout the day to keep track of news and weather etc.
I remember it came as a complete surprise the hour Roger's death flashed up on the site.
I had told my manager in advance, as I would need time off for the funeral etc.
I had never really told many of my workmates about my link to Roger, let alone about his death.
I've always thought this would leave me open to allegations of boasting or name-dropping.
I've also faced allegations of lying about who I am, and that is crazy in itself. I really don't have time to prove to anyone what I've been born into.

When these workmates saw the death on the screen and starting blithely mentioning it to me, it was all a bit much.
At that point I obviously became upset and had to explain the true situation.

More soon....