Reasoned, thoughtful, articulate

Like so many other people in South Africa and far beyond this country, I join in mourning the loss of Steven Gruzd from our public space. He was always generous with his time and insights; and willing to seek out ideas from others that would better inform his own writing. I found him to be an excellent guest on our radio programmes as well – reasoned, thoughtful, and articulate. 

The world never has enough people such as that and the sudden loss of someone like Steven is very hard to accept. Just this week I was thinking about an article we would be co-authoring; now I will need to soldier on on my own. But I will keep his thoughts in mind as I write it. 

All our sympathies to his family and his many friends. 

• J Brooks Spector is a former American diplomat living in Johannesburg. He taught at the University of the Witwatersrand, and has been a nongovernmental consultant and media commentator.