David Nicholson

Dave will be sadly missed. For generations of trainees like me, Dave was a guiding light in Reuters - highly respected, yet accessible, generous and funny. What struck me most when I first got to know him in 1983 was that even after decades in journalism, even in his exalted position as one of the five horsemen on the World Desk in London, he was wildly enthusiastic about his job, journalism and Reuters. To the day of his retirement, he never lost that. He never became jaded about his work, and years later I would still go to him when I needed "company faith". He always had it - marvelling at being able to do this job at Reuters.

From the time George Short unleashed him on our lot of trainees - we were the first group to have the benefit of his involvement - he became an ally, a mentor and a friend. He was fantastic company and was an erudite man with a love of music. He generously took a couple of us a few times to Ronnie Scott's, the famous jazz place in Soho, where I discovered the likes of Nina Simone and other jazz greats.

He gave us invaluable journalistic and career advice, and would regale us in the pub with funny stories. One, when recounted by George, told of Dave falling into the Thames late at night, no doubt after a few pints. When Dave told the story, it was George falling. To this day, I am not sure who it was that fell but it was a brilliant story.

One of the funniest stories Dave told me was that one morning, when he was due to be in charge on the desk, he woke up a couple of minutes late and by the time he turned on the BBC World Service, he had missed the first item. The second item was the spilling of Khomeini's corpse during his funeral. Horrified that something even more important than that had happened, he leapt out of bed, got dressed, ran into the bathroom, grabbed a wet facecloth to clean his face. As he was rubbing it all over his bushy beard, he realized the cat had peed on it. He said he then lost a few minutes looking for the cat to kill it. Having failed to find the cat, he dashed to work, where he found out the top new item: Tiananmen Square.

Dave was a humble, warm-hearted and funny man as well as a consummate professional. He has my enduring respect and friendship. In recent years, we had lost touch a bit but the world felt a better and safer place for me, knowing that Dave was in it. When George Short died, it was on his shoulder that I cried. To me, Dave and George epitomized Reuters with all its rich history and strong values. They will both be forever in my heart. My deepest sympathies to Marilyn, Sarah and Alec. ■