It was impossible to work with Andy and not get to know Andy. He was our editorial leader in a unique corporate-media partnership, but we bonded from the first moment and our friendship flourished long after that partnership ended.

It’s probably not surprising to those who’ve known him much longer, but what struck me most about ‘work Andy’ was his resilience. We were a tough client, but he was unflappable, always listening, always responsive, always learning. Always smiling and cheerful.

We held an annual customer conference during which we broadcast on air live for two straight days, and he volunteered to run a few segments. I had been working with him for several months, but only recently learned he was in a wheelchair. I asked him how that would work — this was a massive, live TV set — and he just said to tell him what time to arrive. I remember turning around during a break and there he was sitting at the desk interviewing guests. 

Andy turned out to be a bigger coffee nerd than I was. I remember getting ready to go to my wife’s next posting in West Africa — he met me in Arlington at a coffee shop right next to my hotel, and he still managed to beat me there. But he also showed up with bags of coffee beans roasted especially for me. What a Godsend that was. I had great coffee for the first two months, and I thought about him every morning when I woke up and made a fresh cup. He even let me use his incredible spreadsheet to rate the coffees. 

Since that time, we’ve shared tips and tricks. He introduced me to the WDT tool, which completely changed the game for me trying to make espresso in less-than-ideal conditions. 

We were also both basketball nerds, but he out-nerded me on that too. One of my fondest memories will be watching the Knicks-Pacers playoff game with him last spring. That was something we talked about being able to do one day when I moved back to the U.S. Some wings, a drink, basketball, friends. Nothing better.