I first knew Richard when I worked in communications for one of the truck manufacturers. Richard worked for 'the opposition', but in reality, who you were employed by mattered little. What counted, was the sort of person you were. He was a proper person. Professional, without being stuffy, and retaining that vital sense of humour. When I went across to the ‘other side’, and became a freelance hack, I came into more regular contact with Richard at events and DAF tests. It was his laugh, easily triggered and always a pleasure to hear, that marked him out. Memories for the book? By the look of other tributes, I’m risking repetition here, but as a PR type, I regularly accompanied journalists on press tests, and a comment about Richard's testing methodology at DAF filtered back to me. One tester was bemoaning the fact that on a swelteringly hot summer day, Richard would not allow the air conditioning to be switched on, as it had an impact on fuel economy. Nor would he allow the windows to be opened, as it generated extra drag, and again, a fuel penalty. These effects would have been marginal, but for Richard, his duty was clear, the best possible result for DAF. There were also rumours - I have no proof - of a lump of foam rubber that had been judiciously placed under the throttle pedal, to try and mitigate the effect of a clumsy right boot. All very amusing, but also believable! He was a lovely guy to work with.