Brian Williams - exceptional man, gifted journalist

Brian Williams was an exceptional man and a gifted journalist. He was irreverent and disrespectful of authority but his superiors kept him on because he always delivered the goods.

He worked hard and partied hard, no halfway measures for him. He was hypnotized by pretty women and he loved often but not well. A roughish lopsided grin and mischievous glint in his eye drew women to him.

I first met the Digger in Vietnam in 1970 and over the years our paths crossed repeatedly.

He was helpful to new reporters and generous to a fault. He made many lifelong friends, some of whom he met in the war trenches in Indochina or the bars and dives in the numerous countries he reported from in his 37 years with Reuters.

After one drink too many Brian on a whim would sometimes buy roses for every woman at a restaurant or bar or ask the sommelier to offer them a glass of champagne. I never did find out if the tab ended up in his expense account.

When he married his third wife Aliki, he invited me and my wife Mimi to join them on their week-long honeymoon in Greece. We spent the nights drinking. 

Aliki was his rock. She cared for him to the end and he died in her arms. A measure of the respect with which Brian was held by colleagues was the number of friends from across the world who visited him in Athens as the end drew near. 

Rest in peace dear friend. Rest in peace. ■