So many memories of Brian Williams

Brian Williams, a man who lived life to the full. So many memories of him, hard to know which to choose. 

I first worked with him in the London bureau in the mid-1970s. His first few months in New York in 1987 were interesting. When there were deficiencies in the media file Brian, new to US methods, tended to get blamed by the then big boss, Des Maberley. but he always took it well and quickly learnt on the job.  

Des had a few quirks. He loved to blast his execs verbally on Friday afternoons, then would invite them to spend a few hours as his guests at Bruno's Italian restaurant on the East Side. It was his way of saying, “I'm not such an ogre, am I?”

Brian loved the big-city atmosphere in Manhattan, the restaurants and the numerous bars and delis. Did he over-indulge? Occasionally. But he put in long hours at the office including weekends whenever it was necessary to hold the news file together. 

Yes, he had an eye for the girls (women, Judy Schoolman insisted I should call them). i was a guest at a celebration in Ossining, New York, in 1987 or thereabouts when he tied a knot with Victoria Graham, who had been his opposite number in Delhi as AP bureau chief. It didn't last and soon ended in a relatively quick settlement. Not long afterwards he found solace with a lady from Philadelphia whom he met when they were exercising dogs on East 72nd Street one night in the August heat. They were together for more than a year. His friends were all happy to see him settle down with his new wife Aliki in Athens in his final years. 

Like quite a few Aussie journos, Brian was a highly competent sportswriter. He covered cricket matches in Australia and got a plum job covering an MCC England tour of the country for Reuters, an arduous task at the end of which he was presented by the team with an honorary 12-month membership of the MCC, the UK governing body of the game. ■