Throughout his diplomatic and commercial career and into his retirement, Merrick knew the wealthy, the famous and the well connected. But he also knew the wealth-less, the forgotten and the incarcerated.
He knew them in different countries. He knew them in different languages. And in some cases he knew them for the majority of their lives.
Of those who knew him, there can be no one person who could deliver a tribute, or tell a story, or have a memory of him that could sufficiently dignify not only the number — but also the variety and depth of relationships that he had in his life.
But he did not collect people. He was not a socialite in that way. Nor did he use his relationships as a means to an end. To him those relationships were just friendships — an end in themselves.
The histories and recollections on this website are from just some of the people in his life who were kind enough to send us their thoughts.
