Michael Laffan has been with me for years, in my heart, as an inspiration, and as the most entertaining of companions. He taught me how to be a journalist, and the thousands of stories I have written since then (on The Observer and elsewhere) came partly from him — looking for the angle, asking the right questions, being brave, extrapolating into the future, making the connections between past events, interviewing people that others had not spoken to..I have not seen him in many years but he enriched my life. And, for all that, in common with many others, I have to say that I loved him and am proud to have known him. Thank you, dear Michael.