Peregrine Michael Hungerford Pollen[1] (24 January 1931 – 18 February 2020) was an English auctioneer who headed Parke-Bernet in the 1960s after it was purchased by Sotheby's.
[1][3] Pollen then worked as a Latin teacher, an organist in Australia, warehouse worker in Los Angeles, a gasoline attendant, pantry boy on an ocean liner from London to Las Palmas, aluminium worker in Kitimat, British Columbia, and attendant at a psychiatric hospital.
[1][2][4] He served his national service in the King's Royal Rifle Corps before becoming an aide-de-camp to the Governor of Kenya, Evelyn Baring, from 1955 to 1957.
He expanded it throughout North America, opening facilities in Houston, Denver, Los Angeles, Buenos Aires, and São Paulo.
[6] Pollen later had a caique from South America named Papagoya that accompanied him around the city and was reportedly addicted to alcohol.