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Nimrod Ping [36] was a politician and gay activist, as well as being a local architect. He designed the Lewes Road branch of Sainsbury’s [view], which has arches intended to recall the demolished railway viaduct the building replaced. Ping was also a musician, and performed in electro-pop and rock bands.

Nimrod Ping died at the age of 49. Brightly-dressed mourners at his funeral arrived as the organist played "The Sun Has Got His Hat On" and "The Entertainer", and in keeping with his own advice to "arrive late, be funny and leave early," Nimrod Ping's family arrived ten minutes later. His coffin was decorated with a painting of a steam train running through the Sussex countryside, and was carried in to the ELO song "Mr Blue Sky"; it was followed by his brother, Peter Ping, who had dyed his hair green for the occasion. At the end of the service the congregation sang "Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life", then processed to the graveside to Lou Reed's "Perfect Day". His wake took place later that day in Kemptown's R Bar (now Bar Revenge [view]).

Nimrod Ping had served as a Brighton councillor from 1991 to 1999. He was chairman of the planning and licensing committees, and he was one of the first council members to be out as gay. He was a keen supporter of Brighton Pride, and was influential in the council's decision to allow gay clubs to stay open after midnight. Ping defected from the Labour party to the Greens in 1997, in opposition to the New Labour project.

On his popular Radio 2 shows, presenter Terry Wogan used the "Nimrod Ping"  scale to measure the comparative ridiculousness of listeners' names. 

Nimrod Ping was diagnosed with Hepatitis C in the late 1990's and became seriously ill in 2004. In the year before he died he appeared in a poster campaign to draw attention to the condition and reduce the stigma experienced by its sufferers.

Peter Ping said at the time of his brother's death: “He was the kind of guy who would say ‘Why have a light bulb when you can have a chandelier?’ He had enormous determination and lust for life."

Simon Burgess, a past leader of Brighton and Hove City Council, commented that: “Council business can be rather dry and Nimrod injected a bit of humour and a fresh perspective.”

The epitaph on his stone reads “Architect, musician and troublemaker. Arrived late, left too early.”

_{Lewis Road Sainsbury's, designed by Nimrod Ping}