Farewell 22 Jermyn Street (Eyrie Mansion)
I had just settled in my easy chair when a key turned in the lock and a nattily-dressed man in his 60s let himself in. He held a bottle of Teachers’ scotch under his arm. He walked to the sideboard, took a glass, poured a shot, and while filling it with soda from the siphon, asked me, “Fancy a spot?”
“I’m afraid I don’t drink,” I said.
“Oh, my.”
This man sat on my sofa, lit a cigarette, and said, “I’m Henry.”
“Am I…in your room?”
“Oh, no, no, old boy! I’m only the owner. I dropped in to say hello.”
This was Henry Togna Sr. He appears in a Dickens novel I haven’t yet read. I’m sure of it. He appeared in my room almost every afternoon when I stayed at the Eyrie Mansion.
“I Met a Character from Dickens”
Roger Ebert,
Chicago Sun-Times, February 5, 2010
All too, too sad. What will replace all those lovely buildings? What could possibly be an improvement? Hard to believe that not a one is listed.
Having fallen in love with this place from afar (everyone always speaks of it with such tenderness), I share in the loss these many miles away. But then my heart has been broken repeatedly in the name of progress. So many neighborhoods that I once frequented and adored have inevitably come to ruin via a wrecking ball. If more imagination were evident, declining buildings and dilapidated structures could be restored to their former selves retaining the original authenticity, charm and history. Sad indeed.
I adore the Bunny Rogers quote.