• I JOIN the many who remember Tony Allan with fondness, as a kind and thoughtful man with a wide range of inspiring activities, (Tony never lost thirst for science, Obituary, April 29).

He was also a man of curiosity, courage, and drive. While he is known for his theory of virtual water, I recall how, beginning his academic career at SOAS, he said that a geographer should know as much as possible of the actuality of the span of the world: what it looks, sounds, feels like.

So to complete his PhD project in Libya he drove there and back; and in 1970, to initiate the project to study the green revolution in Uttar Pradesh, he drove there and back in one summer vacation. And then again, the next year, to do the field work.

Tony’s affection for the 2CV might have begun on that India trip.All these journeys were done in a Morris 1100. Some 2CVs were also to be found in the border queues.

At the Afghan / Pakistan border, at the top of the Khyber Pass, a young Frenchman was to be seen waving a piece of engine from his 2CV, asking if anyone had a spare one of these? I was Tony’s companion on those trips. We were impressed.

He was a man who walked the Three Peaks Challenge in Cumbria, drove to his field work, sleeping on the ground by the car to save time,

for ease of a 5am start; and distilled the experience of a lifetime of close collaboration with fellow academics into making geography matter.

HEATHER LEE
Glenhurst Avenue, NW5