pfr has it exactly right. I disliked Keith's Mudcat persona intensely, and thought his politics stank, but I did occasionally banter with him offline and thought I detected a real 3-D human being in there somewhere. That's the thing, though, innit: we see here the online man 99% and the real-life man 1%. My son lived in Hertford for a time (and the in-laws are still there), and I know the canal and the nice pub with outside tables ideal for a summer night, and, had our stars collided a bit better, Keith and I might have fought our corners over a pint or six, which maybe would have been a far better way of going about things than he and I ever managed here.

All good wishes and kind thoughts from me to his family and friends.