"I saw Stewart for the first time in July l958. A friend of mine had introduced me.  I wanted a job very badly before going to Cambridge to study in September, and Stewart very kindly introduced me to a friend of his who had five hotels in London. Until a job came up Stewart offered me to work with him in his house - painting doors etc.

I went to Stewart´s 3 or 4-storied house and helped him paint and do minor repair work. I lived at a hostel elsewhere but came around in the mornings. Stewart taught me the technique of painting paneled doors. At the time I didn´t know how useful that would be, but I have lived in an old farm house for many years now and all doors here are paneled. I think of Stewart every time I paint a door.  Well, we even made our own putty and we had many a good talk while kneading the ingredients.  One day I said to Stewart "I would so much like to have a record with Albert Schweitzer playing Bach on the organ". Stewart could easily arrange that, for he knew a good shop and he suggested we go there in the afternoon.  We found Bach´s Toccata and Fugue in D minor + other pieces and had it played for us. There were two enormous loudspeakers in the shop and it felt like being in a great cathedral.  When it finished it was very still and I saw Stewart with big tears in his eyes. "God bless you Lars", he said. It was all very moving.

Stewart also mentioned his time in the war. I think he said he was decorated twice. I think he helped save a tank unit in Africa and he stopped a ship with a dangerous cargo.

Stewart had a cabinet with rare old China, and his fine silver cutlery was in daily use - somewhat carelessly lying about. I was very young and unfamiliar with fine art and silver, so one morning in the basement kitchen we were preparing for more door painting. I took up a paint pot, and having no appropriate tool at hand I picked up a spoon lying in a corner to open it with. Stewart´s furious outburst hit me like a hammer, and it took a while before I understood just how stupid I had been. But we were soon good friends again.

Stewart’s studio was an awesome place. Famous paintings on a divan or leaning against the walls - probably worth millions. A big desk with an infrared lamp which revealed the most surprising things on the paintings. Stewart once threw a party for a young Irish fellow (my first friend in London). When the party stopped around 3 a.m. there was no public transport for another couple of hours, so people settled in sofas, chairs or on the floor. But I sneaked downstairs, removed a couple of the Queen´s paintings and slept on the divan.

When I got a job (illegal) at a hotel - breakfast team - I often went to Stewart´s house and gave a hand in the afternoons. Later in Cambridge, Montague Square was my base whenever I spent a week-end in London.

That was a very happy time in my life. Stewart was an extraordinary man and we talked so well together. I had tea quite often with his old mother in her rooms upstairs, a dear old lady whom Stewart liked to make fun with. I visited Stewart off and on in the following years when I happened to be in London.

In l964 I was in London again and asked Stewart if I could invite him out some place in return for his kindness to me. Stewart appeared glad for the invitation and we went to a theatre and saw a musical. I am very happy I got the opportunity since this was the last time I saw Stewart."

Lars Rasmussen