Comments on: So Long, Gary Arber https://spitalfieldslife.com/2025/10/17/so-long-gary-arber/ In the midst of life I woke to find myself living in an old house beside Brick Lane in the East End of London Sun, 22 Feb 2026 14:04:06 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 By: Chuckster https://spitalfieldslife.com/2025/10/17/so-long-gary-arber/#comment-1941031 Sun, 22 Feb 2026 14:04:06 +0000 https://spitalfieldslife.com/?p=204772#comment-1941031 ]]> This post reads like a room that keeps discovering new rooms inside itself. Time is stacked here the way paper is stacked in Gary’s cellar—eras misaligned, dust doing most of the remembering, history humming instead of speaking.

By the end, it feels less like an obituary than a printing press quietly breathing, still impressing lives into the page long after the operator has stepped away. 🔥

]]> By: David Phillips https://spitalfieldslife.com/2025/10/17/so-long-gary-arber/#comment-1828296 Sat, 18 Oct 2025 15:55:33 +0000 https://spitalfieldslife.com/?p=204772#comment-1828296 What a wonderfully interesting piece about the estimable Mr Arber, his family business and his fascinating life.
Thank you, Gentle Author.

]]> By: gkbowood https://spitalfieldslife.com/2025/10/17/so-long-gary-arber/#comment-1827336 Fri, 17 Oct 2025 14:41:35 +0000 https://spitalfieldslife.com/?p=204772#comment-1827336 I am always amazed at how long the people born in the 1920s live and Gary, born in 1931, was close enough to that time frame to reach 92. Your stories of his life were always quite interesting. I really wanted to see that big old goldfish!!

]]> By: achim https://spitalfieldslife.com/2025/10/17/so-long-gary-arber/#comment-1827285 Fri, 17 Oct 2025 13:34:31 +0000 https://spitalfieldslife.com/?p=204772#comment-1827285 A wonderful story about printed books. My father, who worked as a publisher’s bookseller, also dealt with this subject. He had to edit books and also take care of their printing. Even as a child, I visited these printing works with him. All of this resulted in my current love and fascination with books. At art college, I also learned typesetting with movable characters. Today, I couldn’t live without my library. — Yes, Gary Arber is very close to me in this respect. R.I.P.

Love & Peace
ACHIM

]]> By: Di Corry https://spitalfieldslife.com/2025/10/17/so-long-gary-arber/#comment-1827176 Fri, 17 Oct 2025 10:51:12 +0000 https://spitalfieldslife.com/?p=204772#comment-1827176 I remember Gary’s shop in Roman Road vividly when I visited the market further along the road every Saturday when I was a small child with my great aunt Nellie.
A cluttered but friendly place…..
Another East End character has gone, thank you GA for acknowledging his passing.

]]> By: Marcia Howard https://spitalfieldslife.com/2025/10/17/so-long-gary-arber/#comment-1827071 Fri, 17 Oct 2025 08:07:46 +0000 https://spitalfieldslife.com/?p=204772#comment-1827071 What a poignant write up, but such a wonderful one too. I don’t want everything to be ‘preserved in aspic’, but real historical write-ups such as this one are absolutely priceless. I am passionate about history, especially social history, but with so many companies run by faceless corporations, or ‘elf & safety’ dictating what we should or should not be doing, I applaud any individual who dares to break the rules. A big thank you for this one Gentle Author.

]]> By: Richard Cleaver https://spitalfieldslife.com/2025/10/17/so-long-gary-arber/#comment-1827030 Fri, 17 Oct 2025 07:28:15 +0000 https://spitalfieldslife.com/?p=204772#comment-1827030 I am so sorry to hear you have lost a friend, but your poetic words do a proud tradesman (even under duress) a great justice.

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