Its enough to make you believe in parallel universes colliding, or something:
Doctors fear that the identity of a mysterious mute pianist found wandering on an English beach in April might never be known, a British newspaper reported on Monday.
[snip]
The so-called “Piano Man”, a tall blonde-haired stranger thought to be in his 20s or early 30s, was found on April 7 on the beach at Minster, on the south coast of England, soaking wet but fully dressed in a black suit and tie, with no clue as to his origin.
He has not spoken since and has not responded to written appeals while being kept under observation in the psychiatric hospital.
But he has fascinated social workers, the British media and the general public over his one means of communication: playing classical piano music.
When given a pencil and paper by hospital staff, he drew a grand piano — and then, when shown a piano at the hospital chapel, he impressed his carers with a remarkable virtuoso performance.
There are no leads.
Now, I am an imaginative guy, and I work with a major inner city hospital where all kinds of strange shit comes down, but I have a hard time coming up with any scenario at all that would explain this one.
I’d always assumed it was a publicity stunt for talented chap who couldn’t get any gigs.
Wasn’t there a similar case in the midwest USA (about the 30s/40s) of a little girl trampled in a panic at a State fair – no-one ever reported her missing or claimed the body, which would have been unheard of at that time & place. I’ve seen the story since in Fortean publications as the ‘mystery child’.
Also, wasn’t one of the King’s Cross fire victims only identified by chance a few months ago & otherwise would still be ‘anon’?
My husband often says that time travel must be impossible because we never meet any time travelers…
Maybe we have met a few and we just don’t know it?
The King’s Cross chappie was a homeless who’d had no contact with his family for years at the time of his death (indeed, I think they’d assumed he was already dead).
I suppose it is odd, per my original post, that everyone who must know this bloke has so far kept silent. But then, you don’t tend to go around thinking ‘hmmm, could that be someone I once knew’ and if it is a publicity stunt, the people who know him now have a motive to remain tight-lipped.
Hit his head, fell off ship, struggled to shore, ship continued to distant lands. Perhaps a rival for the on-board piano gig boffed him on the noggin.
Are any cruise ships missing their piano players?
If a naked Harvey Keitel turns up tomorrow, we shouldn’t be in the least bit surprised.
“Sing us a song, you’re the Piano Man,
Sing us a song tonight,
Well we’re all in the mood for a mystery,
And you don’t know your own name for shite,
la la dee dee dah dee di…….”
The best hypothesis I heard was that he comes for eastern Europe and his family/community could not care for him so they obscured his identity and dropped him off in England were they knew he could get care.
He hasn’t been identified because the only people who know who he is are perfectly happy with him were he is.
I am not a number, I am a free man…..
Maybe number 7 or 8 escaped but paid a horrible price…
Is he still in Britain? I read around three weeks or a month ago that he astounded everyone by understandng when he was addressed in Norwegian. And he spoke back in Norwegian. I think it was in The Telegraph. I thought he had been taken back to Norway.
I also read that when he drew the picture of the piano, he did it at astonishing speed and in mind-boggling detail – as in he drew every hammer and every wire, leading to the suspicion that he may be autistic or an idiot savant. That could also be why he could play this vast range of classical music, remembering every note. I didn’t know he was still in Britain. I hope he’s OK. He must be very frightened.
The story so far, courtesy of Wikipedia.
Julian Morrison – thank you! That is totally fascinating.
I seem to recall something similar happening in Canada a while back- the amnesiac individual was eventually identified as the ‘star’ of some gay porno films.
9 on the Weirdshit-o-meter.
Why don’t they record some of his playing and make it public? Perhaps his piano teacher could then identify him?
Just another bloody illegal immigrant, playing a longer game than most and being better looked after than most, too. What utter mugs the British are.
Luniversal – I would think being locked up in a “secure facility” and remembering never to say a single word inadvertently and being alert 24 hours a day to not giving yourself away to trained observers, would be infinitely harder work than simply getting a job and working for eight hours a day then clocking off.
I thought your post was mean-spirited. This individual must be frightened and confused. If it’s an act, he must have nerves of steel – although what could his motivation possibly be? Not to hide and seek anonymity!
This case doesn’t seem that odd to me. Unusual, to be sure, but not inexplicable.
Some years ago now, at A Certain Sheriff’s Department jail, a man was brought in who Would Not Speak. I don’t recall the exact circumstances, but for some reason, he was held in the jail and not transferred to the county hospital as would normally be the case with someone apparently suffering from psychiatric problems.
Automated fingerprinting was his undoing. When his prints were put into the system – and after some extensive investigation – his history was uncovered. He was (at one time) a successful businessman, but he suffered some sort of mental breakdown. And his method for coping with it was to hit the road – in some very anonymous way – and get as far as possible from his home turf, then simply wait to be picked up by the police. And he would then refrain from speaking. He was perfectly cooperative, no trouble at all to anyone, he just wouldn’t speak. He would spend weeks, sometimes months, in county jails and psychiatric hospitals, until the crisis was over, at which point, he’d start speaking again – just enough to get out – and he’d head for home. He’d been doing this for years, and had been all around the US this way. On the strength of a couple of tattoos, he’d spent extensive time in VA hospitals, where he was taken as a possible veteran. Any crimes he did were of the most petty sort, certain to get him turned loose for ‘time served’ if it ever came to it.
It was his mechanism for dealing with whatever was going on in his head, and I could see that. A few weeks with absolutely no responsibilities, three squares a day, a warm place to sleep and No Worries. Whether he simply refrained from speaking. or whether these episodes rendered him incapable of speaking, I do not know.
llater,
llamas
Well, llamas, but our musician has already displayed signs that he may be an idiot savant. Therefore, he’s not a normal member of society taking a Time-out. He’s also a more than competent pianist – although whether he is any good or whether he just remembers all the notes and plays them without any expression, hasn’t been mentioned yet – but in any event, these things are distinctive enough to get him identified by someone – or even several people.
His looks are also distinctive.
And strange that he seemed to respond to Norwegian. But the Norwegians are aware of him, and no one’s claimed him.
JuliaM —
You may be thinking of this.
I was 24 at the time, living in West Hartford, CT, and though I did not go to the circus that day, I remember the incident clearly all these years later.
Dang! Still can’t do arithmetic, I was 14 at the time. Not that it really matters.
He even looks like the chap found in Western Canada a couple of years ago. I don’t know what happened to him.
Well I never – what are the chances of someone who remembers the incident in question also reading ‘Samizdata’! Now, that’s a coincidental occurance of it’s own!