Anyone who would like to add stories, anecdotes, pictures or testimonials to this page, please send anything you have to: iam (at) musiciam.co.uk

We are very sad to say goodbye to a friend. His warmth, good humour, dynamism of personality, passion for life, intolerance of apathy and unswerving devotion to giving justice and civil liberty issues a wider audience, these are just some of the exceptional qualities I will remember him for. Paul Chi.

Marty, God Bless U Brother... The last time i saw Marty on planet Earth was in Borders reading the latest bad news i bought him a green tea and he told me he had had his first nights sleep for weeks, he looked pretty tired saying that he couldn´t really see himself lasting more than two weeks. i dismissed all of this and concentrated on chatting to the young and vibrant marty within. After a conversation that started with kidneys and iraq, i suggested a walk to the beach and a pipe. He seemed to perk up and we strolled down to the sea...it was a beautiful cool and silvery day and the grass was highly uplifting and inspiring. Our conversation became more animated and the subject matter a lot more cosmic. We got onto the subject of when the age of aquarius would really kick in and he recalled some guy in the 60s telling him that it was dawning and what that meant to the existing power structures. Marty had seen so many things, hung out with all social circles, always thinking, making connections, always sparks flying around in his head. We strolled on the new pier and looked at the old pier... by the end of our walk he was strolling along at the same speed as me...feeling young again. I will remember u, sweet Marty, as a young man in disguise, may u fly high free from all the nonsense of this world. LOTS OF LOVE Carl x

In remebrance of Martin Segal:As an over-educated and underemployed social worker trying to impress future in-laws I took encouragement from Martin Segal, my future wife's uncle who was more educated and much less employed than I was back in 1973. I immediately detected a kindred spirit in whose company I became a college student again, in awe of his intellect and quite taken aback by his nomadic lifestyle. Having a conversation with Martin was like taking a psychoactive agaent in the early morning hours when everyone is asleep. I felt that we were cosmic travelers uncovering eternal varieties that unlocked the mysteries of life. He became my muse, carrying me back to the discoveries of ancient science, illuminating the elegance of mathematics, cruising throught the philosophies of ancient Greece and Rome. Discussions were filled with the dramatic tencion one feels when at the forefront of a great discovery. He compelled me to challenge assumptions and think beyond conventions. And yet for all his depth and understanding, he was a humble man with a self-deprecating sense of humor that enabled him to mix freely with many people.Martin Segal was a breath of fresh air in a world obsessed with the accumulation of wealth. he eschewed the ownership of property and relied on the kindness of strangers. His friends were his independent community, Though it may have cost him a long life he held true to his convictions. While I will miss him dearly, he created such an indelible impression that I have only to conjure up his image to be in his company again. Ron Keats 01/03/04

Marty you told me when last we met that you were staring death in the face and I didn't really take it on and now suddenly you are gone but I am truly honoured to have known you and made a soul connection to you.You enthralled us with your tales of outwitting the radical thinkers in the 60s the Allen Ginsbergs etc, you instructed us on "living and flying in the 21st century", you were a chronicler, you were a revolutionary, you were a brilliant mind and flashed like a bright inspirational star and when first we met on some level you were preparing to depart this earth and the night we talked for hours in Jane's van you fell silent and said we made you feel old but you were so young. You lived your life FULLY suddenly you would switch on like a 1000 watt bulb and illuminate us with your genius and give your all. I am proud to have known you Marty and to have glimpsed the essence of you as a divine human being who suffered as all humans do and strove to make sense of the human condition. I know somewhere you are smiling. your spirit is soaring, you are free. Go well my brother. Infinite love Hazel Loveridge (uvhaze).

Searching the Thread ........(one of Marty's a personal favourites)

I breakfast on burnt messes
And think of our last supper:
Salt, pepper, the strong meat;
Set by red wine - our laughter
Crinkling light across a lonely sea.Bewildered of all but pain
I stand on a closed shore
--sun burning on salt--
In a maze of splintering mirrors
My love, my love, give, give me
The untangling thread of your hand.

Peter L Dollins In loving memory of my old ginger pal marty segal, who sadly left this earth on the 16th of december... you were the most creative person I have ever met, and your entire life was one artistic journey that you recorded and filmed for us all to look on in humour and wonder. your spirit and will is such an inspiration, and will never fade. you showed me that human spirit and community is stronger than any force, you re-assured my faith in human kind and for that I will be forever grateful. you were thee original ginger panther, and had more spirit, determination, knowledge and experience than ANYONE I have EVER met. You taught me so much and had time for all my questions, and you never ever stopped questioning, for that I will be forever grateful, and I will use your image as a guiding light in my moments of darkness, you never, ever let the bastards grind you down. NO SURRENDER scott mcpherson

Marty was a man I met when I first moved to Brighton around 1993... he was the strange old man who insisted on being the opening act for "The Zinc Bar", a free (the only sort of event he would go to) open mic night that he would use as an opportunity to bend the minds of the people who frequented it. Always unpredictable, he would never fail to produce material that would challenge everyone present, no matter what age or background. Thankfully our paths crossed some time after the Zinc Bar had finished and I came to know him very well for which I give many thanks. He was the representative of an older generation one could only hope to meet. He had never surrendered his desire for knowledge, for new experience or been content to think that he really understood the world. His thirst for knowledge was an inspiration I will carry with me for the rest of my life. Marty was a man unlike any other. Warm, loving, determined, right until his very end which came suddenly the night of Tuesday 16th December 2003. A shining light of inspiration to all who met him, he touched people everywhere he went. It is difficult to find words sufficient to describe this man who meant so much to everyone who knew him. A story that seems pertinent to share was the night I went to see Jello Biafra with a friend. We decided to pay for Marty to go because he wouldn't dream of paying (of course!!!). This 60 odd year old man, frustrated, watched this hero of a punk generation talk about his ideas on the New World Order for over two hours... then, to the distaste of many bizarre haircut and faithful follower in the audience, he asked one question that seemed to challenge everything that had been said. We walked out feeling the stares of fellow audience members on our necks, this old man had DARED to challenge their hero... (something I believe Jello had welcomed). For me, this summed Marty up, always questioning, never afraid and never satisfied with the easy answer... and more youthful passion than most younger people! It was this spirit I will carry with me as an inspiration forever. May I also, never surrender the desire to question EVERYTHING. Love be with you... iam.