Andy’s ABC to Insanity
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All filmed clips copyright Swings and Roundabouts and Daniel Saul
Andy Parkinson, also known to many as Andy Postman sadly passed away aged 53 in October 2008 from a sudden heart attack, a condition that runs in his family.
Andy made an incredible contribution to Insight in Mind. He was an inspiration to us during the planning and production of the film, with his stream of infectious and elaborate ideas. He wrote 4 (and adapted another) of the poems in the film and conceived many of the ideas for the filming of 2 of the poems, Mutter and ABC which begin and end Insight in Mind. Andy put an extraordinary amount of careful consideration into the construction of these pieces.
In memory of Andy we are sharing the full version of ABC on this website as we would like it to take its own journey and are encouraging people to share and link to this piece. If you would like to leave a comment, please follow the link below to do so. We feel, ABC is a fantastic mix of cleverly crafted scenes (due to Andy’s hard work, enthusiasm and sheer artistic brilliance) which can be used to help challenge discrimination around mental health issues.
Andy wore his mad proud badge with pride. He lived flamboyantly and creatively and lived life to the full. Never shying away from sharing his diagnosis and often making fun of PC terms with statements like ‘I’m mad, me, am straight out of the loony bin’. Once, he was allowed off the ward on a special release when he was headlining at the Maze in Nottingham and proudly shared this with the audience. He was a talented artist and poet and enjoyed the creative energy that came with his highs and had amassed a wealth of highly detailed artwork and witty poems. He used all his experiences (including his down times) to draw on for his work. He particularly treasured the insight and tenderness that came from both the highs and lows.
Through his life and work he touched many people. The last line of ABC is “Zap scared You” .......he might well have scared a few people in his life but he made most peoples world bigger.
There have been events to celebrate Andy’s work. A memorial exhibition celebrating his creativity at Hucknall Library and an ‘Andy Postman’ poetry sharing evening in April in Matlock.
STOP PRESS !!! Upcoming Andy Postman poetry happening February 18th 2016 - Barley Muse Bonsall
Mark Gwynne Jones will be sharing some of Andy’s poetry at an evening of Poetry and spoken word on Thurday 18th February - see www.markgwynnejones.com/live
