Goodbye Mike and Manos

Goodbye to Mike Dickin the Talk Sport Radio presenter . I was shocked to hear that he died . I heard this today. He was involved in a six car pile- up yesterday and it


was reported that he died on his way to hospital in a helicopter.
What a shock . He was part of my life style.
Uncle Manos was buried yesterday .. I did't attend the funeral . He died about two weeks ago whilst on holiday in Egypt,his birth place. Manos was found dead in a hotel bath tub., no explanation, and an autopsy was not carried out by the Egyptian authorities . Manos was about seventy seven , the same age as my father Costas would have been had he not died five years ago .
I did not have a special relationship with uncle Manos . I guess he had bad relationships with most people: blood relatives or otherwise. I remember Dad didn't like him much . He was divorced many many years ago and remained quite bitter and depressed . Often appearing at family parties late and hungry. He lived a lonely life and what struck me was that he seems to have died a lonely death. May he rest in peace.
I have to admit Mike Dickin was a bigger loss to me . I used to look forward to listening to his show on Friday and Saturday nights, and when it was time for bed I would put my ear plug on and listen to his angry , passionate and entertaining reactions to the meaninglessness of the experiences he and listeners recited as well as the absurdities of a regime imposed by the elected government ,both
central and local branches alike.

He used to analyse the behaviour of the mini dictatorships known as local councils . How they delighted in taking people's money for parking vehicles against their rules or other even more bizarre and trivial offences. He would invite guests on the show who would be expert in how to take on the wrath of these mini despots and not give in to their intimidating tactics. He was a champion in this field of standing up to the nasty behaviour of jobsworth government employees.

When it came to political ,topical or more philosophical issues he debated excellently coming accross with a balanced view; neither too far to the left or right of the political spectrum . What I guess I admired was his cynicism or should I say realism. About politicians and their like . He also had a love of straight forward decency and expressed the anger and frustration shared by millions of listeners about the sheer stupidity of how the law and its minions affect our everyday lives .

He was not blinded by manipulative nationalism and although a proud Englishman shunned the values of being over patriotic to the point of allowing one'self to
become bigoted.Neither did he fear to challenge the exaggerated political correctness of the day and confronted callers about their own perceptions of their
religious , racial or political identity.

He was an unashamed , self confessed outright atheist defying the self righteous who claimed the moral high ground purely because they proffesed a 'faith'.

I did not know him personally but over the years he revealed quite modestly a lot about himself . He was a family man , loved Cornwall and had a life of varied achievements . I hear he was a musician , sportsman aswell as knowledgeable on all aspects of motoring . He seems to have travelled to most parts of the world and in conversation would occasionally mention as an aside ,within an appropriate context,his acquaintance with all sorts of interesting people , political demagogues as well as so-called celebrities . And he wasn't afraid to broadcast publically if he thought a particular character, however 'important ' or 'famous', was a 'pratt'.


It's a great loss. I tried to express my condolences to his family via talk sport e-mail as the station has opened a condolence book in which admirers were able to write their comments. Unfortunately it seems to be jammed . I have given up with that but felt drawn to write in this blog instead . It must be a shock for his family , his children are quite young although he was in his sixties according to BBC reporting .

It is a real loss to his close family , but also to his wider family many who like myself invited him in into their homes over the weekend .

Good bye to both . Uncle Manos who seemed quite unhappy with life. I hope he is no longer unhappy.

And Mike , seemed ,although to be angry about many things in this life , somehow knew how to get some kicks. I hope that if he was wrong about the existence of God , that he is treated with the utmost respect by all the immortals of Hades. He would be as good a catch for them as he was a bad loss to the living .

His most used catch phrase was 'My health is not in question '.And that is ironically so true now.

Goodbye