"Milo Lewis"
It is with deep sadness and the very fondest memories that we must report the passing of Milo Lewis.
To describe Milo merely as our "Production Manager" does a severe disservice to the huge numbers of stages, adventures and miles along the road that we have shared.
He was our pal, someone our sons and daughters had known since their childhood.
The consensus among everyone who has been kind enough to call or write, over the last thirty-six hours since his passing, is that he was a "stand-up fellow" and "damn good egg", while another close colleague said how much she would miss that "silly old sausage".
If all of this seems sentimental and arcane, so be it.
Milo combined a unique, funny, hard-working, unflustered approach to getting the stage prepared and then on to the next whistlestop, mixed with a profound love of life and mischief.
He was a kind friend to the very many cohorts that he encountered in the backstage world, a well-read, bon viveur, loyal Hammers fan and man of the Isle of Wight.
He was the father of Rosie and Poppy.
In the last ten years, he became a New Yorker and lived in Brooklyn with his second wife Tracey, who he met when we were working in Mississippi.
To Pete Thomas, Steve Nieve and I, Milo had just always been there and we assumed he always would be.
1981, Milo made a striking cameo appearance in the video for "Clubland". In those days, he split his working time between our tours and leading the charge with Nick Lowe and his various cowboy outfits. He took over our production manager role in 1983, sharing and sometimes suffering our transition from boys to men, from Attractions to Playboys and on to become Imposters.
He was as familiar with the scent of blood and sawdust venues as he was able to negotiate the manners of symphony hall concerts, unfazed by the challenges of the Spectacular Spinning Songbook, tours with the Brodsky Quartet, Allen Toussaint and The Sugarcanes, not to mention the nightly deconstruction of the "Detour" set.
He had many friends among the crews of "The Last Resort", during our long association with the "Letterman" shows and "Spectacle" and among many, many other bands of gentlemen and pirates whose paths we crossed.
I know that Pete, Steve, Davey and myself will be joined by all our crew, past and present but especially, Robbie, Paddy, Gill, Steve, Toast, Fern, Zak, Tim and everyone else at our management, agency, financial, transport and travel offices in sending our love and deepest condolences to Tracey and all of Milo's family and massive circle of friends.
He is, in so many ways, irreplaceable but we must go on and onward we shall go.
