I first met Neil in 1956 when we shared a room in an old house in Finsbury Park, London. We were two boys from the Midlands, both with non-affluent parents, who were about to become first-year students at The School of Pharmacy. Sharing a room was the start of our lifelong friendship.
Our first lectures were in the then Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain building in Bloomsbury Square, prior to the complete move to Brunswick Square. I think the time we spent in Bloomsbury Square, where the registrar and his staff would have lunch with the students, gave us both a lasting respect for the profession.
During our second year, Neil started courting Jean Low, a classmate and daughter of a County Durham pharmacist. Our ways parted after graduation as Neil served his apprenticeship at Allen & Hanburys and I became a graduate student who ultimately crossed the Atlantic.
Soon after they were married, Jean’s father passed away unexpectedly and Neil found himself managing pharmacies in Consett, County Durham. Neil’s early start in pharmacy made him ideal to sit on the board of UniChem — a position he relished. Neil served on several committees, both local and national, and became an admired person and a respected pharmacist in his community.
John H Perrin, p
rofessor emeritus, College of Pharmacy, University of Florida