Stanley was a true friend and ours was a friendship without edge, agenda or negative history; just free and easy and gentle exchanges. We knew each other through the City, yet it was only after I left Salomon that we became friends, although I remember clearly when he and Jackie lost their beloved son, Daniel, in 1979, to Leukaemia, at the tender age of eight. Stanley spoke of Daniel often, and the first time he recounted Daniel's tragic and sudden passing to me, over lunch at the Savoy, I sat and cried, as did he. Stanley wrote a 'possible' musing about Daniel which you can find on this site under "His Life". As a parent, the grief Stanley had to live with, and which Jackie still has to live with, doesn't bear thinking about. Yet more often than not he had a smile on his face and could always find reasons to laugh and be cheerful.   

Ross and Partners provided transparency, levelled the playing field, and gave the underdog (those lowly forgotten investors!) a chance. And that sums up Stanley's character; he cared about openness and winning intelligently, and he was brave enough to stand in his own truth, and by his own words. You will find his famous 'Kidder' speech, which he delivered in 1977, on this site, under "Stories".   

Driving home after the funeral on the A281 I passed countless eateries where Stanley and I had lunched: Black Horse Inn, the Crabtree, Mannings Heath Golf Club, South Lodge Hotel, Dun Horse, Cock Inn, etc, etc. We used to meet about four times a year, and in recent years usually at a place mid-way between Surrey and East Sussex. But our last lunch, in June, was in London, with Charlie McVeigh, at Browns Hotel, at their Hix Mayfair restaurant.  Browns became a favourite of Stanley's following the arrival of Angelo Maresca, former manager at the Savoy Grill, in 2003. Stanley loved fine food and fine service, and he was a superb chef himself, hosting numerous dinner parties on board Highland Beauty when it was moored in St Katherine's Dock.

I'll see you when I look at you, Stanley ...