Soho Pam

A small, squat woman in her late fifties with closely cropped hair and "barn owl" glasses.

Pam usually starts begging at midday and finishes once she's collected enough money for a packet of cigarettes and a bed for the night...[she gives the author an unexpected present]"Do you like it?

[2] To finance this and her habits of gambling and smoking, she regularly begged in the nearby district of Soho where she became familiar to the bohemian community in drinking establishments such as the French House.

"[6] Artists and authors such as Clayton Littlewood featured her in their work and she sold postcard portraits of herself painted by Rupert Shrive in 2005.

[7] She gambled away her spare cash on fruit machines and by betting on dog racing but, when she had winnings, she was generous to her friends in the area.

[1] She gave up drinking around 2000 but later seemed to suffer from liver failure, giving her a jaundiced yellow skin which attracted attention that she enjoyed.

He has written a song about her called Pam the Hawk and said, "She was an incredible character with a remarkable talent for getting money out of you.