muckles:
Sad News indeed, there is a sticky in the Euro Section about Italy help anytime posted by him, even left his mobile number on it.
As soon as I read this thread I thought about that very post. It was made many years ago and always stuck in my mind as a very kind and generous offer. I went to Italy (Novara, Rome & Padova) with an O/D friend in 1986, 5 years before I got my HGV licenceā¦not that it stopped me doing some of the driving in Italy 
Later I put his number in my phone always hopeful that I would be doing Italy myself one day. Alas,it wasnāt to be.
RIP Brian.