ABSTRACT
I had known Bryer since one of the early Birmingham symposia back in the 1970s, but our acquaintance remained a remote one. Although I am older than he, at that stage I was a lowly PhD student, struggling to complete a thesis, and he was already an established professor. By chance, we both decided to attend the International Byzantine Conference held in Athens in 1976. And we met when we both decided to play truant from the main activity of the day, and to get off the bus taking the group to Delphi, as we wanted to spend more time at Hosios Loukas. So there you have the pair of us, tramping along the dusty road that forked off to the left, while the bus careered on along the main road to Delphi. As you all know, Bryer is one of the most sociable beings that exist. We began to chat as we walked along, and to my astonishment I discovered that this bearded man, looking very like an Orthodox pope, was also one of the kindest persons I have ever known.
