I have just read through the stories of Mike, and they so accurately describe the man I knew. If ever there was a person who was strongly himself in all situations, whether work, family, interests, or friends, it was Mike. Uncompromising, single-minded, interesting, enthusiastic, wickedly funny.
I knew him as a friend through Rosemary, witnessed their wedding and over the years became firm family friends. With Mike we shared a love of gardening, botany and the natural world.
He knew excellent orchid places and the four of us had a great weekend in Kent a couple of years ago. Mike was struggling with mobility but that wasn’t going to stop him finding and photographing the orchids.  We visited Sandwich Bay and found hundreds of Lizard Orchids which reminded of my first sight of them in 1985 when Mike with great enthusiasm took me aside from Kate’s birthday party to show me one growing by their hedge. 
One occasion which typifies Mike’s ever active and enquiring mind. In 2010, Mike and Rosemary came on a Nile cruise with a group of us. Up at dawn to see the sights and then after lunch we relaxed cruising down the Nile. Most us read, or just watched the world go by, but no rest for Mike who set himself the task of learning Arabic in the afternoons.  
Mike, we will miss you in so many ways and remember you for all the rich, stimulating experiences you shared with us.