Friends
Peter and Beryl Hick
Remembering Eric Hawkins? Well, one could hardly forget him. Just retired and relocated in Hull, we met Eric and Ellen through Anne. You knew at once that you were with a magnetic man. He had the ability to make you feel special, encouraged you to talk and he listened. And of course when he talked you listened. He opened your eyes and your mind like the great teacher he clearly was.
There are many things I could say about Eric, but two will suffice. I asked him to come and say a few words at a social meeting of the Hull Literary Club. He came armed with printed sheets for everyone. Ten minutes later we were all reciting in Spanish. In those days few people had heard of Lorca, we hadn't. We have never forgotten him since. We have little or no Spanish but we have Lorca's poem "Five O'clock in the Afternoon" by heart. A few years later we visited the Lorca Museum outside Granada. We got talking to a Lady afterwards. She was surprised to have two English sightseers visit her Museum. How did we know about Lorca? Ah, I said, a friend of ours saw Lorca perform with the Open Air Theatre in Salamanca in nineteen thirty something!