Nigel Ryan's translations of Georges Simenon's novels remembered

I'm very sorry to hear of Nigel's death. A great guy, with many fine attributes that were already obvious in his early years at Reuters. We worked together in Reuters newsroom before and after his famous stint in the Congo with Sandy Gall, and I well remember him working during quiet spells on night shifts on his beautifully nuanced translations of Georges Simenon's novels for Penguin. I desperately wanted to get to the Congo - the biggest and bloodiest story in the world in that period - and Nigel sent Doon Campbell a cable from there supporting my wish. But Campbell had already decided I was to go to SE Asia, where I landed up in Vietnam reporting a different war. RIP Nigel. ■