Condolence letter to Mandy re Dave, my good friend of more than 20 years: Hi, Mandy Presume you're picking up Dave's mail, so trusting this gets to you, but I'll text as well. Thanks for phoning last week to tell me the awful news of Dave’s death. I’m sorry not to have seen you in Spain, as many were able to - a testament to his many great friendships, but I have been thinking about him constantly and wanted to share some of those thoughts. I guess when I think of Dave I think of his huge character, his independent-mindedness, his great humour and his warmth. He certainly lived by his own rules, but there was also a connection with people and a kindness and which made him a very special friend. As I mentioned, he remarked at Andy Morris’s funeral that his friends, and Andy’s, were all mavericks, as Dave himself was par excellence. Life when Dave was around was certainly never grey or dull. He maybe didn’t always suffer fools gladly (or much at all!), and he could be impatient, such as when we were all ‘dicking around’ to use his terminology. He certainly wasn’t short of strong opinions either, but they were always given with his own brand of formidable intelligence and unique and insightful way of looking at the world: and he usually turned out to be right! Dave also had real modesty and a capacity to laugh at himself which I think is one of the reasons he was so popular. It’s hard to believe we won’t hear him bellowing and chortling with laughter at gatherings again. He was a true original and had a freedom of thought that was hugely impressive. He thought about other people and I was always struck that he admired what they did (Kev and computers, me and writing etc) in a very open and endearing way. As he got older, Dave seemed to find a real contentedness and ease with himself. He once told me that he almost never worried and it was clear how happy he was with you, the business set up and allowing you both to travel and for him to do his beloved biking. I’ll never forget Dave’s open-hearted love of ‘A damn good thrash and a damn good nosh’! Of course, the harsh reality is that biking is a numbers game for everyone, however able and experienced, and tragically his number came up after many years of life lived cranked over at 140mph. For all the risk, you know he’d never, ever have stopped, it just wasn’t Dave’s way. He seemed to find a great life in Spain with you and I guess in terms of experiences he has had a pretty good innings, however unbearable his loss must be feeling now. It’s hard to think he isn’t out there somewhere chortling away at all this soul searching over him. Let’s all keep in touch and keep him alive in our thoughts, even if it’s going to take some time to start to fill the gap he’s left behind. Look forward to seeing you at the memorial soon where I hope we can think about him further and we can do our bit for him by making sure we look after you. Best love, James (Muttley) xx