Interpreters and Piano Man

It sounds as if Piano Man may come from the Czech Republic:

bq. The behaviour of the unidentified stranger, who is in a secure unit in north Kent, has left health professionals flummoxed. All attempts to coax him into communication, including the use of interpreters from Poland, Lithuania and Latvia – but not the Czech Republic – have failed. He cowers when approached by strangers and is constantly anxious.

What I wonder is why did they try Poland, Lithuania and Latvia? Or did they try whoever they had at hand in North Kent? Or did they try many, and are just naming the East European ones?

9 thoughts on “Interpreters and Piano Man

  1. You’ve obviously been following this despite your trombone accident. There are some good quotes in the Scotsman. One is, ‘“If he is British then someone, somewhere must be missing him,” Mr Camp said.’ Then there is the frequently quoted, ‘I know nothing about classical music but I know he’s playing it well’. Are you referring to this in Vilnius:
    ‘Mikolojus Ciurlionis, who used to live here, was a writer, painter, composer and general all-round renaissance man. Various personal artefacts of his are kept here, including his piano…’ I see he also went into a sanatorium.

  2. One day the Scotsman will have the political courage to write, “If he is English then someone, somewhere must be missing him.”

    Having met the Lithuanian mafia once on a pig farm, I suspect that all roads in Vilnius lead to the nuthouse. I also suspect that enquiries are focusing on a piano competition there that likes to host blonde boys.

  3. There as also a rumour that, when given pen and paper, he drew a Swedish flag. That turned out to be wrong – someone had got the Swedish flag mixed up with the flag of another country. Could he be an alien abducteee? A drunk who fell into the water, bumped his head and pretended to lose his memory to start a new life?

    Paul

  4. A sort of latter-day John Stonehouse?
    I thought they were *hoping* he would draw a flag but he drew a piano. I wonder if this happens to me if I can get the Union flag with the thick and thin white bits the right way up?

  5. You obviously were never a girl guide Margaret……
    In the boyscouts, we used to get severely reprimanded for that. You might have even got a wallop with a big stick….
    Paul

  6. It would be a great (allegedly French/Italian) street piano-player publicity stunt. Instead of busking around Europe and scratching around for cents or pennies, turn up in drenched clothes off a shipwreck on the English coast at Sheerness and pretend to lose your memory. Bingo! Hollywood movie producers pile in to sign up the filming rights.

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