Nina Fishman. NOT an obituary.

My friend Nina Fishman died last Saturday. I will miss her.

Nina had an inoperable and untreatable cancer. Her death was not unexpected, but for her husband, Phil, her family and friends it was still an unwelcome and unwanted surprise. Nina knew that this was one opponent that force of argument would not bend to her will - she was as direct and honest with herself in this, as she was with the rest of us in everything else. Nina had spent some eight (or more) years on the first (and definitive) biography of Arthur Horner, the Miners Leader of the 1920s-50s, putting her own health second to getting this enormous task finished. In fact 'little Arthur' so much became one of the family that when asking after herself & Phil, you always added "How's Arthur?" Having (as we all thought) overcome cancer once to finish her masterwork, we were all devastated when she was re-diagnosed just a couple of months ago. Nina was damned determined to attend the biography's publication in January next year and did what she could to keep this appointment. For once she failed.

Nina and I met over 25 years ago, through a friend of Sybil, my partner. I had never met anyone like her – still haven't! Nina became and remains my oldest and closest friend.

And that is a statement that I am proud to share with very many others, as Nina had a true gift for friendship. She was not merely a 'good friend' in the general sense, but also in the sense that she was 'good' at being a friend. Unlike most of us, who bump into our friends now and again, Nina put a great deal of time into her friends, into making them, but more importantly, into keeping them.

I guess Nina had an address book (she had no time for electronic gizmos), but it must have been the size of War & Peace. She had friends everywhere, of all ages, backgrounds and interests. And she was in contact with all of us – and was unfailingly interested in all of us. As a result, some of her friends are now friends of mine. As anyone who has met her would know, when you got Nina's interest, you got her commitment and boundless enthusiasm.

Nina was not a 'part-time' anything, when you got Nina, you got all of Nina, whether you wanted it or not! If Nina was interested in someone or something, then she cared and cared passionately.

We shared a love of opera (she converted me to Mozart, but failed with Wagner), cinema & theatre. Wine - unlike me she only bought the best. Politics, of course. There was seemingly no cause on the left that she was not involved in.

This was perhaps inevitable coming from a politically radicalised family: her parents were American academics persecuted during the McCarthy period and effectively forced to leave the US because of their political beliefs and trade union activism.

Nina was involved in driving political change at the national and European level; however, long before she moved to Swansea, she was (and remained) fascinated by the minutiae of our local politics. I admit this fascination was more likely attributable to our friendship, than my insightful analysis! But whatever it was, to an often struggling local politician she was always an interested listener. Nina knew political history, but did practical politics; pressing the lessons of history to serve a current problem. And she'd deliver leaflets (although it was Phil who most often got to deliver them). Nina was an enduring encouragement when it all got me down. I learnt not to give up, that it was worth it even if the change was small, but above all I learnt that I couldn't make anything better if I quit.

I am the better person, and certainly the better politician, for having known her. She was a gift to us all and improved the world by being in it.

I will of course miss her. I'll miss her phone calls, ringing up with some bit of news or to find out what's going on or to invite us to meet someone she thought we'd like or simply to come over for food. I'll miss her unexpected visits when she was out for one of her enormous walks and just thought she'd call in for a cup of tea. She expected to be welcomed and of course she was. There was no day so bleak, no weather so black that Nina's arrival couldn't improve it.

I'll miss too her capacity to eat for Britain. She brought the same enthusiasm and dedication to the table as she did with everything else. From the first, she was for me the personification of the 'Eater Upper', a character in N F Simpson's play, One Way Pendulum. She wouldn't eat anything, Nina liked good food, but given it, she'd eat it. All of it. And yours too if there was any left!

Nina was serious but was also great fun. She gave herself to laughter as fully as she did everything. She was a great audience, I always appreciated her rumbustious laughter whilst banging the table, as I told one of my often repeated stories.

Nina was generous; generous with her intelligence and learning, although never battering you over the head with it, well perhaps if you opposed her in debate. I recall her taking issue at a seminar with one prominent MP who had asserted that since Russian tanks posed no threat to Britain, they shouldn't inform NATO defence policy. Nina suggested, icily politely, that those people living within drive time of the Russian border might take a rather different view. Nina even managed to make thick Scousers like me believe they had made a worthwhile contribution. Nina was generous with her enthusiasm and energy, although I often had to run hard to keep up. She was generous with things – if you liked something she'd give it to you.

And it was that generosity that led Nina & Phil, to commission a 'free' performance of the Verdi Requiem. Nina had 'decided' that she wanted to hear the Verdi Requiem before she died, but a planned performance could not be found in the time she thought she had available. So Nina did what Nina always did, if no-one was doing what was necessary – she did it herself. So she booked a certain Cardiff based orchestra (listed in the programme as the Welsh Symphony), the Swansea Philharmonic choir, a top line of soloists and the Brangwyn Hall. Her plan was not only to invite her friends, but as thanks to the city that she had made her home and which had made her feel at home, all the people of Swansea. She was particularly concerned to include young people who would not otherwise be able to afford to attend such a performance. The concert will be performed on Sunday January 17^th 2010 as planned, as Nina was adamant that it should go ahead whether she made it or not. The Requiem will now fulfil its proper purpose.

Above all Nina was unstintingly generous with her time. Even in her last weeks, when desperately ill, she made time for the almost constant flow of friends wanting (but desperately not wanting) to take their leave.

I will miss her love. I will miss my friend. Goodbye, Nina love.