KEY POINTS:
For Paul Holmes, it must be like being at your own funeral. Ever since it was announced he would be passing the ZB breakfast microphone to Mike Hosking at the end of next year in a seamless transition, everyone's been telling him the sort of things that are generally only said when the coffin lid is shut. I'm glad he's hearing how much he's valued. I've known Paul for more than 20 years, and he is easily the most talented broadcaster in the country, as well as one of the most generous and supportive colleagues.
When I arrived at ZB, without any experience as an announcer, he would phone me up, tell me he'd been listening and then offer advice, encouragement and praise. He's done that for all of us, and his generosity is not reserved just for his own work colleagues.
Robert Rakete remembers Paul congratulating him when he was hosting Mai FM's breakfast show.
He can be infuriating - anyone that clever and mercurial is bound to be high maintenance - and he's given Bill, our boss, a few moments.
After the Kofi Annan microphone malfunction, we all had to suffer a day of attitude readjustment run by the Race Relations Conciliator. To make matters worse, Paul was late for his own detention. He got a few snarls from us all that day. But we love him dearly. He's clever and kind, and the good news is that he's not dead. There's life in the old boy yet, and I can't wait to see what he's going to do next.
