Thomas j Murney
Born manchester England AUGUST 1943
Died tragically in auto taxi catastrophe JULY 25th 2000 sissis close to iraklion
Tom had had is usual three weeks in his beloved plakias ,
Which he discovered in 1978 when taking the local bus down from rethmynon
He was a regular for over 20 years and made several trips out of season also
He had many many friends who he even saw the children turn into adults,
The secret nest was his spot for years and Tom saw Michael build the souda mare hotel
Several people who are regulars know the stone That overlooks souda bay very close to the hotel on the bay side as you head west from the hotel
I have sat in the galini tavern and I see the stone bright with the Suns reflection
I will contact stellios kaoudis this morning. I'm 7 hours behind plakias here in tampa florida
It's 15 years today that toms friend zak zurbakis of taxi for you picked Tom up from his farewell meal at the nest. They were in a bizarre accident which was no fault of zak , but he carries the hurt of seeing thomas die so dramatically in front of zak. I went to the trial of the two vechils in May 2003 in iraklion. Zak drove me to his uncle Michael hotel after the trial. We are firm friends. , he had just lost his young wife Kelly , she knew Tom well , and I had just had my mums funeral in England too. My father died soon after Tomas with a broken heart. Fate is ironic as we chatted for the first time.
Zak was too fragile in his heart to meet me on my first visit in July 2001 one year to the day
Turned out that zaks wife and my mother ALMA were cremated on same day and hour one hundred miles apart in England
Several locals and visitors friends of thomas joined us july 25 on the preveli ferry
Leftiros the skipper took our band of Tom mates into souda bay at dusk
Wow it's so much more dramatic bouncing around ,looking up at those mountains up above selia
We cried ,sang songs. The manchester rambler. Dirty old town. Manchester United calypso the red flag. Then Peter who was married to Riety. Did the poem by Dylan Thomas. "Do not go gently into that good night". Not a dry eye on that boat We consumed good local raki manolis brought aboard
He left us recently , may he rest in peace ,I remember all who were on board , and they became friends to me , my heart was broken because Tom was more than just my brother hex was 8 years older and taught me many things. We were extremely close , we had peter a linguist who speaks greek with a cretan accent also. He explained the poems and socialist songs. It was vey emotional and even a little surreal as the skipper fought the winds , they held me over the stern and I scattered some of toms ashes. I saw them swoosh quickly into the sea of Libya
I'm up now after breakfast slight hangover from metaxa last night. Toast toms memory
Hope theres s mythos on his stone there usually is one there
I've not been for 5 years. It's a long way from florida and circumstance have changed.
Not sure if ill ever get back but part of my heart and soul is cemented into Kriti
Stellios was terrific arranging the stone mason in rethmynon and installing
My wife at the time. A usa lady came to plakias twice. She too loved it
We divorced but still great friends. We talked about coming over next July/August for my 65 th
Sadly she died suddenly of a brain annurusm at 56 years of age this March
So here's to thomas a man who loved Kriti and Kriti loved him
I will phone stellios in a few minutes. Yammas to you all roger MURNEY tampa fl usa
