Thanks for this lovely article. I met Roi in 1994 on my first trip to New Zealand. I promptly went into Records Records, bought a ton of vinyl, and got a job. Roi hired me to work on days he was off--I'm sure he used the opportunity to take time off. When I wasn't working I would still go in for tea and biscuits some afternoons. When I had to return to the US in 1995 we kept in touch via email. I printed those off and saved a stack of them. I've been reading them over and there is some funny stuff there.

I ended up moving to New Zealand in 1996 and stayed until 2000 so I got to spend some time with Roi during that period, but once I moved back to the states there were only to be two more visits with Roi in person. Both times my daughter, Ella (who was born in NZ) was with me, and Roi and Ella bonded right away. Our month-long trips back were in 2007 and 2014 and we spent as much time hanging out with Roi as possible, always meeting at cafes, having lunch, feeding the birds, talking and laughing, and shopping. Both trips were around Christmas and both times we helped Christine put the Christmas tree up. Of course, a fabulous meal and plenty of wine was served.

I have many fond memories and, of course, these emails. I will treasure all of them. Roi was unlike any other and I'm going to miss him terribly.