AH eulogy at Alan Waldie's funeral, St Mary's Church, Petworth, 19th Dec 2016.

Alan Granville Waldie.

You kept that one quiet then, Al.

I was Alan's writing partner at the advertising agency Lowe Howard-Spink in the mid-1980s. We worked together for two years.

Or, as I used to joke, one year if we don't count the afternoons.

But looking back, how astonishing the mornings were.

It was without doubt the best time of my career. The most productive, and the most fun.

Yet pretty scary to begin with.

Suddenly, as a wet-behind-the-ears copywriter, I found myself sitting across the desk from none other than Waldie, the famous advertising legend.

The man who with Terry Lovelock had created much of the early ground-breaking Heineken 'Refreshes the Parts' work.

Who had devised that extraordinary Benson & Hedges 'surreal' poster campaign.

Who, with Mike Cozens, had amazed us all with the B&H 'Swimming Pool' commercial which swept the 1977 D&AD awards, picking up a then rare Black Pencil.

And much other brilliant work besides.

Frankly, I felt put on the spot. But no doubt like all of Alan's writers, one sort of rose to the occasion. I did all my best work with Alan, and I thank him for that.

Yet, in some ways, doing the ads was merely a sideshow of working with Waldie.

As a clue, I would ask you to examine the photo on the front of today's Order of Service.

Yes, we all know that look.

An expression I can only describe as 'being alert to the possibilities for mischief'.

For along with Alan's creative magic did indeed come its constant companion: mischief.

Alan's uproariously wayward nature gave rise to the legion of so-called Waldie Stories that are retold to this day.

We've heard some of them already. But there's one famous one that certainly bears repetition.

After the pub, Waldie had probably spent the afternoon at a famous photographer's studio, dressed as ever in his trademark navy blue pullover and Harris Tweed overcoat.

I would imagine he then went on to another pub, and quite possibly another, and then on to a club. Here he probably found a piano - Alan had an unerring instinct for finding pianos - and almost certainly regaled all present with his unique rendition of 'Great Balls of Fire'.

Alan, as we know, was an inveterate Jerry Lee Lewis fan.

Finally, time to go home. A taxi was summoned to take him back to Surrey, replacing the one that had been patiently waiting for most of the evening outside.

An hour's drive later, the cabbie woke Alan up: 'We're here, Mr Waldie'. Alan took one look out of the cab window and said 'No, not Ilford, Guildford'. And went back to sleep again.

But next morning, Alan, ever the pro, would be in bright and early, his brown brogues clicking briskly down the floor tiles at Lowe Howard-Spink.

A cup of coffee, and he'd be straight on to that A2 layout pad with his markers - markers which in his hands truly were magic. Just like those watercolour brushes in later years.

Then there was the German level crossing story... but that's perhaps for another time and place.

For those of us who knew him as a creative colleague, Waldie changed they way we looked, the way we imagined, even the way we spoke. 'Waldie-speak'. A lot of us do it to this day.

'That's yer nice ...' 'Talk me through that then ... 'Well, I've got to be getting on'. 'Giving it some red stripe' (repairing to the refreshment car). And of course 'Mnyesss...'.

And I never knew a

SOMEWHERE?COLLET DICKENSON PEARCE.V.S.O.P. Medaillon.

Aer Lingus.

.B&H 1.

Heineken.

Clark's.

Pretty Polly.

Olympus.

B&H 2.

LOWE HOWARD-SPINK.Plymouth Gin.

Vauxhall.