My best friend and ex-roommate in the US passed away this morning. Talmage Bartlett came into my life after my divorce when I needed a roommate and I came to rely on his judgement. He had an uncanny ability to read people and within minutes of talking to them could deduce their motivations which helped enormously in dealing with my ex wife. The only times his perception let him down was in his personal relationships - he was gay and consistently picked awful people that even I could see were not good news.
He had a photographic memory and he described it as a video tape that he could rewind and playback. It was offputting when he could recount what you'd told him word for word. He could read a manual once and then tell you what to do without any mistakes. He was the smartest person I have ever met.
Fortunately for the rest of us he was a procrastinator and lazy otherwise he'd be ruling the world. He often said he felt he was living amongst aliens because people couldn't see the truth of what they wanted and how to get it. I will miss him.
