Remembering ‘Jack Paperman’
John Lyth also known as ‘Jack Paperman’
Amble will be less interesting given the sudden passing of local ‘celebrity’ John Lyth.
I met John when he came to the Trust, in what he thought was a vain attempt to get a job ‘at his age’ (he was only in his 60’s).
We fixed him up as janitor to the newly refurbished Fourways and soon the College saw his value and appointed him to ‘janitor’ their part of the building. This he did for some years and ‘outlived’ both the College and the Trust who both moved their operations elsewhere.
John was a regular sight as he wandered around the town, with his dog until it passed away.
He was a good ‘joiner’ and became a prominent member of local poetry groups and of Red Row’s Hebron Church.
As a former sailor (and perhaps partly because he was a Yorkshireman) he dressed spartanly, preferring to wear unlaced boots (I note that this has caught on with younger generations).
I will miss him because he was free of any ‘edge’, courteous and deferential to those he met or worked with him.
I am, I hope, proud to be one of his friends.
Peter Monaghan (former Director to Amble Development Trust)
John was involved in an accident in March and died later in hospital.
