Thanks for this Roger. Nick and I were quite close and kept in touch often by mail or phone. He rang me last month and told me he was in a poor state and I wish I had been able to go and see him as you did. He asked me to write to him and he said he would write back to give me the hard details. I wrote and sent him some of my books but I didn't hear back - I assumed he was either too ill to write or just getting around to it. I will miss him very much we had some happy times together over many years and I have some great memories of him. Good luck to you Nick wherever you are.
Mel