David Nicholson

Dave had the knack of being able to keep us correspondents feeling like the real experts on our countries we always thought we were while at the same time gently hinting that there might be a slightly different line on a story than the one we were following. I am sure colleagues in other places had similar experiences but in Moscow I was always amazed by the depth and breadth of his knowledge of things Soviet, though at that time he had never been to the country. Until the last few weeks he kept me on my Kremlinological toes, forwarding comments on Putinisation from a variety of publications for my perusal and reaction. I last saw him at the Reuter Society meeting in June when he greeted me with: "What d'you think Obama's going to get out of the Russians?" I wish I'd had more time to talk to him. But then don't we all wish we'd spent more time with wise and kind people like Dave when it's too late. ■