The Hermit Poet

After reading Eduardo’s blog where he notes that he’s not Eduardo the belly dancer, I find myself sitting here in the wintery realm of Saskatchewan wondering about how many Neil Aitkens I’m not.

Here’s a Google census of Neil Aitkens.

1. Neil Aitken who takes pictures of trains in Hungary.
2. Neil Aitken the runner
3. Neil Aitken the Scottish bass player.
4. Neil Aitken who plays fiddle sometimes with a Maritime band called None Crete.
5. Neil Aitken captured here in an old b&w photo as a crying Arnold House schoolboy in the front row of a class photo.
6. Neil Aitken the used bookdealer, nonfiction writer, and resident of Gabriola Island who happens to also be my uncle.
7. Neil Aitken the lawyer and legal expert specializing in land law.
8. Neil Aitken the Blue Cross insurance agent.
9. Neil Aitken, self-employed joiner and glazier who designs expresso cups.
10. Neil Aitken who is a professional arbitrator in the UK.
11. Neil Aitken who is the owner and sole director of Redback Productions.
12. Neil Aitken the amateur cricket player in the Nidderdale League.
13. Neil Aitken, the creator of www.thealice.com.au website for Alice Springs, Australia.
14. Neil Aitken who “remembers having to walk along Duck Street in 2’s for school dinners in the canteen, going to school in ‘Just William trousers’ and dancing to the ‘Gay Gordons’ in the assembly hall. Finally, having to go the Nit Nurse – ‘but I ain’t got nits miss'”
15. Neil Aitken, Philadelphia police official commenting on a wounded whale.
16. Neil Aitken, drummer with Louis Freeman’s band in Glasgow during 1934.