Autobiography

of money and even tried to set up in direct
competition with us.
He also became involved in the stamp
business; issuing pink stamps, a direct copy of
the highly successful green stamps given away
by the major stores. He and his partners made
it work because Green Shield Stamps granted
exclusivity in certain areas for the big
conglomerates, which left the secondary
supermarkets open for exploitation. Godfrey
came in late and made a little money for a
while before the entire stamp business
collapsed.
He continued to make money from various
ventures, and when he reached his 80th
birthday he transferred most his wealth and his
house to his son Mark. He was probably trying
to be smart, to avoid death duties and to make
sure Ralph and I couldn’t claim anything, but it
backfired on him and in 2008 at the age of 92
he died penniless, having wasted his money on
bad business decisions in his later years. He
simply couldn’t resist taking a chance because
he always lived on the edge, whether it was
women, life or business.
I went to his funeral and mourned the father I
wish I’d had. Five years before that Mark had
fallen out with his father and was living in
South Africa and could not be contacted,
leaving us to look after Goddy in his old age.
The great irony was I was caring for Goddy
just as I did for Johnny Cenci until they both
died.
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