Michael appreciated the fact that discussions were better if the parties disagreed, and over the years I carefully studied and research any number of things for the sole purpose of taking him to task. I hope that he enjoyed it as much as I did.

I also appreciated his fondness for archaic words and little used grammatical constructions, not to mention his affinity for literature-I never would have read "East Lynne" were it not for him, nor would I have re-read and reconsidered Robert Louis Stevenson.

He was clever,contentious, tenacious, audacious and all those other things that make a good and true Mudcatter, and that one other thing, irreplaceable. We are much diminished by his passing.