Kim Hammond, rest in peace

This morning I learned the awful news that my friend, Kim Hammond of Bellingen, has died, aged 49.

We spent half an hour together the night before his demise. He was one of my most favourite people in the world -- one of that rare breed of people: a good man. As far as I know, everyone loved him. He was going to cook me a carpetbag steak, and also show me at his home the archives he had stored with great and honourable pride, of Hammond and Wheatley's, the famed Bellingen emporium founded by his great-grandfather more than a century ago. But life can get tough sometimes.

Rest in peace, Kimbo. Always loved.

How many friends I loved are gone
Death delicately takes the best:
O Death, be careful of the rest!
I cannot spare another one, —
So many friends I loved are gone!
Richard Le Gallienne