Richard Beamish

Richard Beamish was a long-time friend of ours, going back to the early 1980s. Even though he had a bit of a crusty exterior, he was actually very intelligent, sentimental and a loyal friend. He would always send us emails on International Friendship Day to remind us of how he valued the companionship of his friends.

     Life led him on several international adventures, including teaching English in Pusan, South Korea, for a couple of years and then ending up in Budapest, Hungary. By then, he had met Aliz, the woman who became his Fiancé. He stayed with her for the last twenty years of his life.

     He led a busy life in Budapest. When he wasn’t teaching English, one could find him playing Squash regularly, and he became very active in the local chapter of Toastmasters. All the while, he continued to travel throughout Europe, ride his bicycle, write short stories, and he made a couple of attempts at writing novels too.

     On December 8, 2020, a phone call from Budapest came through telling us of the shocking news that Richard had passed away. He was out riding his bike when he had a brain aneurysm and died immediately. That left us all (his friends) stunned! He was always there, and it seemed that he would always be there.

     This is a collection of four short stories he wrote many years ago and sent them to us to look at, as he wanted to publish them as an anthology he called Guy Stories. With this small collection of his short stories, we celebrate Richard and the amazing friend he was. We honour his creativity, his compassion, and his quirky sense of humour.

     This is for you, Richard. Wherever you are now, we hope that you can see that your stories are finally published, just as you had always wanted them to be.

 

Kempton Dexter

Ron Kearse