A PINK Floyd fan has paid tribute to the band s founder member in a new book. Bob Cairns from Hitchin has spent the last eight years researching and writing about the life of reclusive former rock star Syd Barrett, the original front man of the seminal r

A PINK Floyd fan has paid tribute to the band's founder member in a new book.

Bob Cairns from Hitchin has spent the last eight years researching and writing about the life of reclusive former rock star Syd Barrett, the original front man of the seminal rock band.

In his biography, Syd Barrett Legend: A Celebration Of The Enigmatic Genius, he traces Barrett's rise to stardom, his songs, drug taking and ultimately his reclusion in a village near Cambridge until his death at the age of 60 in 2006.

"It was in 2001 when the Best Of Pink Floyd was released and I thought where's Syd?" said Bob, who has been a fan since his teenage years in Edinburgh. "So I started to look at where he was and what had taken him there."

"I had interviews in 2003 with his sister - I door-stepped her in Cambridge - She was very helpful. But I promised her I wouldn't door-step Syd as he was damaged by drugs.

"The book will be interesting to Pink Floyd fans and those interested in reading about a rock star. All the lyrics are in there - that hasn't been done before in any book, and some of it is controversial.

"He was enigmatic and reclusive, and one of the greatest lyric writers. It's a tribute to what he was about.