Gerald was and is a brave man !!!



IAN

He was my teacher too, as were Alla, Tania, Liudmila... (1996-1999).

Frank

Confused. This seems to be an old video about someone rowing across the Atlantic or something. But then somehow, when I was fiddling, I got the video of Gerald Brooke, but with no sound, but then, refreshing, back to the guy on a boat again. Anyway, Gerald Brooke was my teacher too, there were loads of us over the years of course, and I'm pretty sure I knew Jill, who comments below, but no way to contact her. Gerald himself told me the story about Alla was true. The story I heard via someone else who was studying there at the time, from my town, and then he confirmed it a couple of years later. I heard it was a roof. Details like that don't really matter I guess.

Gerald Brooke taught me Russian at the Polytechnic of Central London, now the University of Westminster, from 1986 to 1991. He was an excellent teacher, as were the other members of the Russian teaching staff - Alla Figoff; Lyudmila Matthews, Facility Cave amongst others.

At the time we were there, we'd heard rumours about Gerald being arrested for circulating religious literature on Red Square and had been stopped at customs with a false-bottom suitcase. We never knew it was true but this video has shown Gerald telling us about it.

I still use my Russian to this day at work although I'm a lot more rusty than I was soon after leaving PCL.

Wonder what Gerald is up to these days? And Lyudmila and Felicity? I'd heard that Alla had died in an accident when she fell over a balcony - unfounded story as yet but if someone knows then please enlighten me!

Jill Harrington (nee Coward)