It was in June 1993 - two days after the Canadian Grand Prix - that a heart attack claimed James Hunt. He hadn't been in Montreal, instead doing the BBC commentary with Murray Walker from London. I got back on the Tuesday morning, and towards lunchtime had a call from Autosport, informing me of the news, and requesting I write an obituary forthwith.
It was not until the next day that I got around to my answering machine, and the last message stunned me: "Nigel, J. Hunt calling. Six twenty-five, Monday evening. Just calling for a gossip. If you're back tonight, give me a shout - failing that, tomorrow perhaps. Bye..."
Having covered F1 through the 1970s, I'd grown sadly accustomed to losing friends, but Hunt didn't die violently, and you don't otherwise anticipate the loss of someone of 45 - particularly one who had cleaned up his act, even taken to cycling everywhere.