Noël Brown remembers

I used to teach guitar at Elliott School and remember Tanya as a bright individual who actually wanted to learn, unlike others who came to me so they could get out of a lesson they didn't want to do.

Like Tanya’s friend Louisa, another pupil, I recently searched Google to see how people I used to know got on in the intervening years. It came as a big shock to learn about Tanya’s passing.

I have good reason for remembering Tanya as, at the beginning of one lesson, we both discovered that we were fans of MAD magazine. I mentioned that I particularly liked the work of Don Martin who drew silly action cartoons for them. Without further prompting Tanya handed me an A4 sheet of Don Martin sound effect cartoons, printed as stamps and gave them to me. I was extremely grateful for this gesture as I hadn't known of their existence.

Having read of Tanya after leaving school I am impressed. In the short time I knew her I recognised her confidence and thought she would go on to better things after school. I expect I'm somewhere in a long line of people who were lucky enough to know her and her generous gesture regarding the cartoons will be with me always. I am still a musician, the cartoons are still funny and I still think of Tanya’s unprompted generosity.

Dr. Noël Brown
SW17 7HH

In the event that anyone wants to contact Noël about Tanya please get in touch with Tanya's brother Nat.