And now I lay me down to sleep, And now I close my eyes...
It is with much sadness that we report the death of Derek Fearnley, best known to Bowie fans as Dek Fearnley.
Following a prolonged battle with cancer, Dek died in hospital in East Sussex in the UK on Saturday November 1st, aged 69.
He is survived by his wife, Judith and his children Nigel and Helen.
Dek is pictured above back in June holding his granddaughter, Harriet, the three-month-old daughter of his son Nigel.
This was David's response when I informed him of Dek's passing: "It's very sad. I remember him very fondly, one of the nicest guys you could have wished to meet."
David also recalls Dek's family as being very warm and welcoming and it was in fact Dek's brother Gerald who took the cover shot for the Deram album.
Above is a picture of David Bowie with The Buzz performing Can't Help Thinking About Me on Ready Steady Go in 1966...that's Dek on the far left playing bass.
This was the same year that David started work on his debut album for Deram, an album that saw him and Dek working closely together.
To this day David remembers spending many happy hours in the library with Dek where they taught themselves how to arrange strings and the like in preparation for the album.
When Dek was first diagnosed with his illness he gave both of his children a copy of the album and said: "This is my legacy". A proud moment for the man who remained a great admirer of David's work throughout his life.