I DON’T believe in speaking ill of the dead, but I don’t believe in flattery. I refer to the press reaction to the death of snooker player Alex Higgins.
As a player, he was undoubtedly a genius, but as a person he was an undesirable. There is no one with more authority to pass this judgement than the people of the North-East (Hartlepool, Middlesbrough and Darlington) where Higgins made his living in the Seventies in the pubs, clubs and civic halls around the area.
All the venues where he was booked to appear were sellouts, yet he abused the respect of his fans time and time again by turning up late with no excuse, turning up drunk, walking out of a venue half-way through to visit a nightclub and, sometimes, not turning up at all.
Unfortunately, he was a snooker genius who dug his own grave with his way of life and his attitude towards his many fans.
Tom Seale, Middlesbrough
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