Buttyman was a boy in my class in school, and he was the most vulnerable child I ever shared a classroom with. Looking back, I realise that he should never have been in a 'mainstream' school at all as his obvious needs were never met. He couldn't read particularly well, could write very little and was way behind all of his classmates in terms of development in both a physical and mental sense. He even wore those dreadful 'National Health' glasses that were the preserve of the truly disadvantaged. In short, Buttyman was prime for bullying and so I took him under my wing and gave him a certain amount of protection. I wasn't the Don Corleone of the playground but I had enough friends to ensure Buttyman never suffered at the hands of the truly cruel. School must have been such an ordeal for him as he understood little if nothing, and the provisions made by the Local Authority were non-existant. But I can never remember Buttyman ever complaining. He just plodded on, and took each day as it came.
Around 1980 Sammy Lee was a regular in the Liverpool Fc first team. A local boy made good he was, and still is, an affable person with an infectious and generous personality. At this time he also knew both my father, who ran a local night club d, and my mother who was friends with his then partner, and present day wife. So, one day I had the pleasure of a professional footballer sitting in my back room at home drinking a cup of tea. Once he had settled in and was comfortable, I left the house and gathered up as many of my friends as possible and invited them back to my house to meet Liverpool's number 8. I remember little other than feeling very nervous as it was like having Royalty come to visit. My mum maintains that we all sat and simply stared at him in silence, truly overawed by the occasion. He stayed for an hour or two but before he left I got him to sign a birthday card for Buttyman who was 10 years old the following day. He duly signed, and even left a little message for Buttyman on the card. He left, and my heartbeat returned to normal.
The following day and Buttyman was the birthday boy. We arranged for Mr.Prettlove, (class teacher and important figure in my past; more of him at a later stage) to make an announcement about Buttyman's birthday, and he summoned him to the front of the class. He was presented with both the signed card, and a box of maltesers to mark his special day. Buttyman took possession of both items and sat down again behind his desk. I would love to recount how pleased he was to have seen his birthday celebrated in public, or how overjoyed he was to have gotten Sammy Lee's signature. Sadly I cannot confirm either. But, looking back now I suspect that his life, for just a short time at least, was a little bit more bearable during that barmy time when Sammy Lee came to visit.
Postscript. Buttyman wasn't his real name. I called him Buttyman because he used to share his butties with me when we were in Senior school. I haven't seen him for probably 20 years. I hope life has been kind to him.
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