A small act of kindness from a big man

I met him once, at a hotel in Doha in 1991. He was visiting the Persian Gulf. This was BTI ... before the internet.

We got a call that afternoon in the Gulf Times newsroom. He could meet us for 10 minutes at 2 pm. The photographer was having a sandwich for lunch at his desk, and though I can't remember what I did yesterday, I do remember shouting out: "Vic, it's Ali. We have to be there by 2."

Vic the photographer often moved at his own pace, but I never saw anyone drop a sandwich, grab their photo kit and dash across the newsroom, out the door, into the car park, quicker.