A strange summer - only a few days after returning to Vancouver from a fantastic trip to Paris, I heard that a friend from my legislative days in Victoria passed away. John Pifer was a member of Victoria's press gallery during the Vander Zalm-Johnston-Harcourt years and we developed a good professional relationship even before I arrived in the legislature in 1991. He was an investigative reporter but also a fair one.

I remember, in 1992, he took me aside and described to me some excessive partying on the part of the Liberals - the kind that would have been normally would been a major embarrassment. He gave us a pass then but warned a repeat would eventually catch the eye of a probing and less merciful press gallery who were keeping a close watch on us.

It was prophetic. Later, in early January 1993, he broke the story on then provincial Liberal leader Gordon Wilson's "favouritism" toward his house leader Judi Tyabji. But John insisted what he reported was no mere simple gossip since the information had been passed onto him from a member of our caucus (and not from me). That meant it was no longer an internal party of private matter. And it was these caucus concerns that effectively undermined Mr. Wilson's leadership of the party. Later, John wondered about the comparatively lax coverage given to future premier Gordon Campbell's own leadership abilities - especially after he blew the 1996 provincial election.

John understood very well the circumstances surrounding my demise as a Liberal in 1996. And he was sympathetic to my bitterness toward the provincial party - especially after the federal Liberals gave me the cold shoulder when I expressed an interest in running for them back in 1997. By then, the provincial Liberals had sufficiently sullied my name. And I became an outcast among the federal Liberals as well. As a hotline host for CKST AM 1040 in Vancouver, John provided me the opportunity to vent my frustration - which I appreciated at the time.

A few years later, during death-watch of Premier Glen Clark's government, some press gallery members would come over to my place to chat. I remember John strolling over to me and, as expected, asking for a comment on the day’s major story. "So, what would Tumbleweeds say?” he said.

Obviously, he had talked to one of my friends because my intimate knowledge of the comic-strip wasn’t well known - except to those who had been exposed to my evening performances of quotations from Limpid Lizard. We both laughed. After that, we would occasionally meet at Cin Cin's or elsewhere - exchanging notes on our experiences in Victoria while evaluating the performance of the Campbell government.

In 2004, John was the campaign manager for Alice Wong, the Conservative candidate in Richmond who was taking on Raymond Chan. At a Liberal nomination meeting earlier that year - when Mr. Chan squared off against former Tory Jumping Joe Pescesolido, I discovered my party membership, which should still have been active, had been revoked. I had been purged from Liberals. But, as former senator Keith Davey used to say, "don’t get mad, get even." And, in a sense, I did by becoming a candidate in that election myself.

John and I exchanged notes during that campaign too, hoping Alice would get in her lucks. Mr. Chan won, though, and was re-elected again in 2006. By then, I had my fill of the Liberals - both federal and provincial. John kept up his interest. But he had a myriad of other fascinations too - from providing leadership at the magazine Shared Vision to commenting on fine wines and gourmet. With all his health issues, he still managed to visit Paris earlier this year as I did only days ago. He loved Paris and London - anyone totally absorbed in these two cities knows why.

The moving tributes to him last Tuesday at Vancouver's 8th Avenue Masonic Hall reflected how much he was appreciated - the support he provided so many, the interest he showed in people, his wide-ranging interest in everything human and of course, in his interests in politics. Au Revoir, John.

Allan Warnke, a Malaspina University-College political science professor, served as the provincial Liberal MLA for Richmond-Steveston between 1991 and 1996.