I was presenting my fortnightly edition of the Newcastle Herald on Saturday at 2RPH (a broadcast beset by strange technical difficulties) when I came across the face of an old friend amongst its pages.

We had just completed the big end of the paper (news, editorials, sport, opinion pieces) and were about to head into the features section of the 'Weekender', when I stumbled upon a full-page splash about her. I don't want to print her full name - just that she is Lisa - but the article paid homage to her Newcastle origins before launching into an impressive resume of her achievements in the art world.

I often think back to the long conversations we had on the way to work in the 1990's, how much I admired her brilliance and energy and really just close we became. That fell apart as our fortunes took markedly different turns and 'way lead onto way' in a manner that I could not have predicted. I take the blame wholly for the falling away that occurred. It has been a source of deep remorse for me ever since.

When I think of Lisa, everything she has done, it might have been reasonably predicted back then, when she plied her trade in a high school art classroom. She was made for bigger things than that small space could hold and who knows what will come next.