Almost 2/3 of a lifetime ago I used to fly James Strong around out of Gove; usually across the Gulf to Weipa, at night in old ARJ, a 402!
I looked forward to those trips as he was always a pleasure to have a chat with and showed a genuine interest in the operation. It made a nice change from medivacs and some of the other customers I regularly had aboard then.....
15 or 20 years later, when he was chief of Qantas he often came up to the flight deck for a chat. We would have a similar conversation, and often disagree on the direction he was taking the company but, unlike some of those who followed him, he was there and he was listening.
There will be many arguments over his Qantas legacy, but I can say I am honestly saddened to hear of his death.