On the 11th February 2010, Vida Adamoli, a founding editor of This Way Up, died unexpectedly from a long-standing heart condition.  We had been friends for twenty-five years and I, like so many others, loved and treasured her, writes Geraldine Royds.

Vida was passionate about life. She had enormous courage – hard-won – and a legendary compassion for others. Friends speak of her warmth, grace and humor and how one somehow felt more vibrant and alive just by being with her. She had a knack of transforming everyday things – beans on toast, a nice torso, the front row at the movies – into something special and she  had the rare ability to make people feel good about life and good about themselves. Vida managed to find something of value in every moment and in every encounter.

At Vida’s memorial, as more and more people crowded into the great hall, I looked around at the open faces of her friends and family and I realised that she was more than a respected writer, a besotted mother, a fine friend and a committed Buddhist. Vida was a truly successful human being whose big, profound, generous life, a life rich in the treasures of the heart, had touched us all.  We miss her.