'Paino Man' shown in London in April. (AP)
Posted on 08/22/2005 11:05:23 PM PDT by FairOpinion
BERLIN (Reuters) - A German man who baffled police and care workers after being found wandering in a suit near a southern English beach, soaking wet and refusing to speak, has returned to Germany after four months in care.
The man was dubbed the "Piano Man" by the media after supposedly giving a virtuoso piano performance while being treated in a psychiatric unit, where doctors failed to identify him despite being inundated with suggestions.
The 20-year-old from the southern state of Bavaria returned home on Saturday after the German embassy had verified his nationality and provided him with replacement documents, a German foreign ministry spokesman said on Monday.
He declined to give the man's name or say where he was now living.
British health authorities said on Monday the man had been released after making a "marked improvement" but would not give any further details.
A report in the Daily Mirror newspaper said the man had finally broken his silence, revealing that he was German and had been trying to commit suicide after losing his job in Paris when he was picked up by police.
The newspaper said he had previously worked with mentally ill patients and had copied some of their characteristics.
Doctors were quoted four months ago as saying the man had drawn a grand piano after being given a pen and paper and had later played classical music on a chapel piano for hours.
The Mirror cast doubt on that, saying he could "hardly play a note."
'Paino Man' shown in London in April. (AP)
You pays your money and you takes your choice (surely some long German word).
From another article:
"We contacted his parents and his identification was confirmed," an embassy spokesman said.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/kent/4172662.stm
Well, I am glad they identified him and he is back home and that he has parents to hopefully take care of him and help him with the recovery.
One thing still bothers me:
"All the labels had been removed from his clothes when he was found on The Broadway in Minster, Sheerness.
"
I don't think people who are about to commit suicide go to that much trouble, people who try to murder someone, on the other hand, do that routinely.
Maybe it's tinfoil hat time, but what if someone tried to kill him, by dumping him in the ocean and he came to and crawled out, but is afraid to say what really happened.
But hopefully he will be OK now at home.
Ping.
He was faking!
"The newspaper said he had previously worked with mentally ill patients and had copied some of their characteristics"
Evil communications corrupt good manners.
Merged into another long German word, goes without saying.
;-)
"Singen Sie uns einen Song,
sind Sie der Klaviermann (Piano Man)
singen uns einen Song heute abend gut,
alle sind wir in der Stimmung für eine Melodie
und Sie haben uns feelin' gut!"
-Billy Joel
Caught making love to his tonic and gin.
Was ein Scheißekopf!
Thanks!
This is the second article on the "Piano Man's" faking it. I'm pinging the Classical Music Ping List because perhaps this article gives a bit more information about him.
Until there is a considerable amount of new information, I probably won't ping any more articles on this fellow.
I was sure it had to be some kind of faking. But my theory that this was some kind of research project, and that he'd informed his friends and relatives so that no one would come forward and identify him, was off the mark. I'm still looking for an explanation as to why his relatives didn't recognize him in all the media coverage and come forward. Perhaps he's been really difficult to deal with and they just didn't want him being sent "home" to them, and figured it was okay to stay mum since he was obviously safe and sound in a mental hospital, and they knew that's where he belonged anyway.
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