So farewell then, John. Without a doubt the finest and most beautiful man I'll ever know.

[Dad slipped his mooring and drifted out to sea with the year's biggest full moon to guide him. Some tides you just can't fight.]

x

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[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xnbiRDNaDeo&w=700]

Strangely that’s something I still miss: your slow, measured stride. Even now I’d try to copy it in case of crisis –

that thoughtful lope towards fire or flood. Of course you were panicking like the rest of us but someone has to take the adult role.

I practise and practise – the steady hand, the cool head, the firm, what’s-the-problem-here stroll to the edge of the abyss.

- Connie Bensley, from The Spectator, 25 September 2010