The isles of Greece, the isles of Greece, where Sappho and the Digger loved and sung

It was particularly interesting for me to hear at Brian Williams' memorial service of his love of the Greek Island of Andros. His lovely family, friends and colleagues created a great picture of the inimitable Digger lying on a beach there, staring at the Aegean, with a cigarette dangling from his hand, considering how strange the world was and how it could be sorted out.

Perhaps Brian's most distinguished Reuters predecessor in Athens, Neocosmos Tzallas once circled on a map for me the Greek islands he thought were the best to visit. There are more than 3,000 islands - 130 of them inhabited. He marked out about 25, among them Andros.  

I later saw many of them on holidays, but never got to Andros. I now wish I had. I think anyone connected with Reuters who visits there in future should make a point of raising a large glass to Brian, his talent, and the journalistic times he represented.

For anyone interested, the island I discovered only from the Tzallas map, and came to love, was Thassos, in the Northern Aegean. Like Andros, it is mentioned in the works of ancient Greek writers. ■