Lost friend.

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Stephen and Richard

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Stephen, Richard, Tony and Kelly

Yesterday I I heard of the sudden death of a school friend of mine, Richard. I don't think I have fully got my head around the idea yet and I still feel numb. Although we hadn't been in contact for a long time he was one of the most important figures in my teens as he, along with Tony, Steve, Mike we're all close friends.

Indeed without these people I think that there would have been little chance of me having ever reached university. We all went to a school where such aspirations were not encouraged. Had it not been for the example of Richard and the others who made being good at school something acceptable I doubt I would have been able to overcome the peer pressure that led most kids to drop out at 16.

What I remember most about Richard was his intelligence. Not so much fierce as positively ferocious. He was able to shine at just about anything he chose to do that in turn led him to a very independent, sometimes infuriating single - mindedness.

After we finished university and I came to Greece we gradually lost contact and news from and about him grew scarcer and scarcer. I'm just so mad that I had to wait for an event like this to find out more about what he had been doing.