Rod 'O' West, A dear friend who will be greatly missed

This morning I learnt of the sad death of Rod 'O' West on Friday.

I first "met" Rod soon after taking over the amdram.co.uk website in 1999. Via the Internet and telephone, Rod became a good friend and adopted Uncle. He was always supportive of both the site and my theatrical adventures off-line, as well as every other aspect of my life.

Through the Internet, and in particular my site, Uncle Roddo marketed his self-published manual "Playmaker". This was the book he "would love to have owned as a young director". I was honoured when he sent me "the first copy to escape" personally scribed to "my dear niece, Jane, from Uncle Roddo xx". When I directed my first play, Dead Certain, last year, it was Uncle Roddo's manual that guided me through the process, and it was this manual that ensured that that production was such a success. Uncle Roddo wrote many features for my site (in the Extras' Area) and always took a personal interest in amdram.co.uk and my life in general.

Uncle Roddo had a wicked sense of humour and his emails and telephone calls always cheered me up. Despite a crippling stroke he continued to tease and support. We met in person just once, when I visited Uncle Roddo and Penny, his wife, in their home. The meeting still holds a special place in my memory, not least because it was as if I had known this wonderful couple all my life.

My heart goes out to Penny and the family Uncle Roddo leaves behind. My world is the richer for knowing him, the world the poorer for losing him.