Day 24: Tim the Swim

Day 24: Tim the Swim

One of the things about the bookshop is that over the years it has attracted many regular customers, some of whom are definitely 'characters'. 

One such - who has been part of the community since we first opened - is Tim the Swim. Tim is a very gentle soul, who loves art and books and books about art. He loves music and documentaries about the natural world. He walks very slowly. He does everything very slowly. The thing I admire most about him is that he lives at his own pace and is not remotely bothered about trying to keep up with everyone else's frenetic pace. He is called Tim the Swim because he'd end most conversations with 'I think I'll go for a swim.' I eventually discovered he had been quite an athlete in his youth.

I talk about him in the present tense, but today I discovered that he died a couple of days ago. He had been living with cancer for quite some time, and we hadn't really seen him for months. He came to the shop a few weeks ago, in a wheelchair and brought in by his nephew. It was a joy to see him, frail though he looked.

He was 73.

It's very sad because he was such a lovely man, an antidote to so much that's difficult in the world, and I have been missing him and will miss him even more now. He will forever be part of the bookshop.

Rest in peace, Tim the Swim!

Victoria Mier, 24 October 2024