Dave Fitzgerald, or Fitz as we knew him at Stage Alliance, a stage crew service who employed a collection of miss-fits from a cross-section of society…which is how Fitz and I met.
We got on very well right from the start, I found his company stimulating and sincere. Whatever the situation Fitz gave 100% of himself especially when listening to people; he would look you in the eye and weigh up the situation and you would get a reaction from deep thought which would be genuine concern, or a jibing ‘f*ck off’ or ‘b*ll*cks’.. end of.
We would unload trucks full of stage props, lighting etc. One day we did nothing but carry scaffold pipes into the Birmingham Conference centre for three and a half hours to erect a sixty foot mountain I think we must have covered 10 miles that day, we joked and laughed all the way through it – he was easy to have rapport with.
One day I mentioned to him that we were selling our house and as we couldn’t find what we were looking for, Fitz said why don’t you rent my house off me? So for the next 2 years he was our landlord.
We also spent a lot of time jamming in our kitchen in the afternoons, and afterwards we would spend hours chatting and laughing both of which came very easily. I shall miss his chuckle and cheeky grin. I shall miss his genuine friendship and I will never forget him like many others who deserved his love and friendship. Goodbye for now mate.
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