I was a young teenager from an inner city school, I had lacked confidence and thought myself unworthy of arts and culture. The generous and charitable work of Gregory Wilsdon via the Classics Academy gave access to young children from Dunraven School, in South London, to the poetry and beauty of Latin. I gained access to amazing teach once a week at Westminster School. It was a true privilege that I will remember for the rest of my life. In the two years that I knew him and Mr Hazel, they were a shining example of the best kind of teachers, the ideal educators: generous, rigorous, exacting and passionate about their subject. Years later, it is deeply sad to learn that he has passed so young. For what is it worth, I truly believe that his passion in providing access to Classics has made me a better and more thoughtful person: learning to think rigorously about language, finding a passion for literature across cultural contexts and history. Condolences to his family, may he rest in peace.

I spent two years with Gregory at Stanford Business School. The man I knew was wickedly funny, brilliant, gentle, but with a biting wit when he was riled. He was fun to be with, and we had several study groups together. My fondest memory of Gregory was lying on the lawn of my student house with Gregory studying something or other together, but mainly just chatting about life. He was one of those people who could talk intelligently about just about any topic I could care to pick, so we were never short of conversation. I will miss knowing that he is in the world, but I fully expect to see him in the Reception Committee when I cross over myself (you hear that, Gregory?).

“This is the report of the inquiry of Herodotus of Halicarnassus, so that the events of men will not become faded with time, nor the great and wondrous deeds, some produced by Greeks, and others by foreigners, lose their fame…” So begins the "historie" – inquiry – of Herodotus, the fifth century BC Greek writer often called ‘the father of history’. Because he wrote in Greek, it is easy to suppose his work to be biased in favour of the Greeks. But how true is that? Come and hear Dr Angus Bowie from the Queen’s College, Oxford, speak on: Greeks and Persians in Herodotus: some surprises That is one of Gregory's regular emails announcing marvellous speakers he had arranged to come to talk at St Paul's Girls' School. This message allows me to recall Gregory's "great and wondrous deeds" which have not "faded" in my memory. The pity is that in copying, I have lost the colours and different fonts chosen to animate the announcement. That was so typical of Gregory's attention to detail and it wasn't just detail it was a larger vision too. Gregory made those wonderful lectures available to lots of schools and was so well organised that they turned up in serious numbers, reminding us how important it is to look beyond the particular “bubble” in which we find ourselves. Everything was done in his inimitable fashion: punctilious, "old school" with the bowtie and observing formalities but never "old school" in the sense of being reactionary. Gregory was so committed to keeping the dead languages alive in the ever-changing present. We were all enriched by that. On a personal note, I was a fellow swimmer with Gregory for a while. I wish it had been more frequent and more often because sharing a pleasure outside work which (literally and metaphorically!) removes the trappings is a good way to get to know one another. We all discovered Gregory’s humour and generous way of being in the world not least from the infamous brownies. Gregory's courage will not be forgotten. His last “Grexit” email, explaining why he was finally driven to give up teaching, has been put in my personal email cabinet and I will revisit it when I need to be reminded what courage looks like. I thank him for that and everything else that made him the best of colleagues.