I have had the privilege of two incarnations with Merrick. The first was when he was Consul General in LA, the second was sitting opposite him at Hanslope Park, where a number of us were based.
As for the LA period, I was based in New York so our face to face contacts were limited, although he did invite me to his house and we discussed a number of issues both face to face and electronically. It was a very pleasant surprise when I started at Hanslope to find that Merrick was sitting opposite me. His contributions to the general discussion, including the lighter part of it, were very well received. Sadly, I had to stop work at Hanslope after 11 years to look after my wife whose Alzheimer’s was creeping up on her at a rather quicker rate.
Both of these opportunities gave me much pleasure, at least because of the way that Merrick told them. He was a real friend with a vast array of stories and I missed him, as well as the other room mates, very much.
John Thompson
