A cracking bloke

Dear David,

I hope you don't mind me emailing you - we've never met,and I only ever met Jim on two occasions but boy, did he leave an impression on me! I first encountered Jim at our nephew, Rob Delaney's wedding last March. In a vain attempt to catch the barman's eye, I found myself standing next to your brother at the bar, and passed a comment that perhaps if I stood on a chair to be the same height as him I'd be able to get a drink. Within the blink of an eye there was a glass for me courtesy of Jim.

For the next hour or was it two? - I had one of the most fascinating and hilarious conversations ever. We talked about so many things, his work, his love of the theatre, friends, but the one thing I remember vividly was the way he spoke of his family and in particular his niece and Little James (I think the youngest niece was about to arrive or just had). He told me how excited he was to be taking James to Twickenham to see his first international. I remember thinking how totally refreshing it was to talk to someone who was so enraptured by so many things. Jim was genuinely interested in my boys (my younger one is also a James!), and in me and my husband Chris...what we did, where we lived.

The second occasion was a couple of months later at the 21st birthday party of Rob's brother Edward. I was so pleased to meet him again (I saw the back of him first towering above everyone else, and instantly knew who it was!). Chris and I found ourselves sitting next to Jim for the meal, I don't think I've ever suffered from such severe indigestion caused by laughter! I remember ribbing him without mercy about his footwear - he said when you had feet his size, comfort was all and called them by some fancy name but I insisted they were slippers! Chris said he'd never known anyone tell anecdotes so well and repeated many times 'what a cracking bloke' Jim was. The evening was terrific fun but made memorable by your brother.

I realize I barely knew Jim, but just wanted to let you know that in the space of only a few hours I found him to be one of the most charming, attentive, intelligent and humourous men. It was an absolute pleasure to have met him.

Yours sincerely, Judi Delaney.