Tears in my eyes on finishing reading this. He was a dear friend and I have never really got over it. I remember bursting into tears some time after he took himself off, on playing "Death is not the end", exclaiming "Oh yes it bloody well is"; and my late wife Valerie saying, not unsympathetically but a bit puzzled, "Well, whatever are you going to do when I die?". I replied, "Why, I'll cry then too." (& I did of course.)
As for 'letting you know what I think', Phil; to quote your own words back at you, "I'm not the best person to judge" -- was too close to him, I suppose. But I read this with great interest, and a sort of bitter-sweet appreciation of the fact that someone still wants to memorialise a dear long-lost friend. For which I offer you profound thanks.

≈Michael≈