Mike Short (8 Jan 1945 - 25 Feb 2020)

To the many who knew him, Mike was the fun-loving, cheesy joke telling, tight-fisted (even when it wasn't his money), gardening loving, general all-round nice chap.

A garden quiz published writer, Mike loved nothing more than taking his quizzes on tour to garden clubs and W.I. groups.

In his younger years, Mike was part of a pop & folk duo. Alongside his good friend Tony, they played covers of well known hits of the time such as, "Pretty Woman" and "Brown Eyed Girl" on the stages of the local social clubs and pubs. With more than 200 covers available on request, they reached their peak, being on the bill alongside Manfred Mann.

As an only child, Mike was never too proud to take his Mum out for the evening, having seen such groups as "The Beatles" and "The Rolling Stones" in what is now Mecca Bingo.

Luckily in Mike's case, it is true that lightning doesn't strike twice. If you're going to stand in the middle of a playing field during a thunder storm, however, there is always a chance of being struck, but we'll come back to that later...

Mike was always good with figures, accounts and money. Being a bursar at a college earlier in his career, I guess this was somewhat of a requisite. He always liked to justify how much was being spent on a pair of our school shoes for instance, as £10 a foot seemed much more reasonable than £20 overall.

Altering his cycle route to work on the next working day after Taunton Carnival was a favourite yearly pastime. It was a great opportunity to see how many pennies he could collect from the carnival route. It turns out there are a lot of kids out there with a bad aim when it comes to charity coin throwing. He'd return from work, always proud of his finds - "22p this year!" I'm sure the money was passed back onto charity, but I guess we'll never know.

A keen gardener, Mike used to sell his wares from the back garden, growing the plants and finally selling the finished hanging baskets to the neighbours and work colleagues. Each evening, the ritual hanging of the "plant price list" chalk board would take place in front of the house notifying passers by of today's available produce.

He was the original "dad joke" writer. The only person who I have ever met who sweats from eating a pasty... I tell a lie, turns out that may be a hereditary thing! The worst football, snooker, cricket player out there, that said, the effort and hours to support a passion was unparalleled.

All the above said, to us he was just "Dad". He has shaped us into the men (I'd like to think gentlemen) that myself and brothers are today and for that we are eternally grateful.

~ Julian (youngest son)

Now back to that aforementioned lightning strike...

Poem written about Mike after having been struck by lightning whilst
working at Richard Huish College. Author unfortunately unknown.

Shorty Takes a Walk

Short he is not as he strolls along
Waving his brolly and feeling so strong
Not a care in the world did he need to share
As the rain and wind played with his hair

Bravely he goes in all weather conditions
To count the bricks and check window positions
The lightning flashed and the thunder rolled
Poor little Shorty carried on with his stroll

The crack when it came went straight to his head
His eyes lit up and his ears went red
“Not now Scotty” he shouted “I’m not ready yet,
There are bricks to be counted and concrete to set”

The beam fell away as the spaceship moved on
Shorty felt cheated and a little bit conned
He had missed his chance to join the space race
And now all that is left is just the rat race!