George Alagiah - one of life's true gentlemen when he visited Chichester

Obviously you try not to come to quick conclusions, but so often you sense something straight away that you know you can go with, some kind of estimation of that person. And although it was a long, long time ago, many years ago in fact, I still remember with fondness the instant warmth I felt when I interviewed George Alagiah, one of the BBC's longest-serving and most respected journalists.

Alagiah’s death has been announced today at the age of 67, nine years after he was diagnosed with cancer.

We were on the phone for 10 minutes, maybe 15, and I’d say it was at least 20 years ago. He’d written a book about his Sri Lankan origins and was coming to Chichester to speak at the now defunct Chichester Festivities.

What stays with me is his decency. He was clearly never going to speak on the phone just about himself or just about his book. It was important to him to know who I was and to ask me about me before we chatted. And he did it in such a charismatic way.

He was someone who had time to chat and when we got onto the subject of our interview, he spoke with charm, with knowledge and with authority – just as he did a few weeks later when he came to Chichester to deliver his talk for the festival. If memory serves, he was in St Paul's.

Over the years I think I've only ever had maybe four interviews that have ended badly: two with actors who clearly loathed the press and weren’t prepared to make an exception for me whom they had never met; and two singers who very quickly confirmed their industry-wide reputation for rudeness. In both cases the interviews were terminated fairly quickly.

But oddly those are not the ones you remember. The vast majority of people are lovely and interesting. But the ones you remember most are life’s true ladies and gents. And I remember George Alagiah being the very definition of a gentleman.

Rest in peace, a fine, fine man.