I can hardly believe that it just five short weeks since I did the "Horrible News" blog about having heard that my former boss had been diagnosed with secondary cancers. This morning I received a call to say that he died today. He was such a lovely person, considerate, polite - my Mum said, "a real gentleman" although I know that's a very old-fashioned phrase to use nowadays and only people as old as I am will understand what that means - very generous with his knowledge in a sphere where curators and researchers are occasionally very very tight-fisted about sharing their expertise. I am glad that we had a wonderful day out together on 1st September, and I am glad that he was at home, not in an impersonal environment. He was a very modest man considering his achievement. It was a privilege to know him. It;s a strange and cruel world. I had expected him to have been at my funeral.
