The word "legend" is tossed around far too freely these days but it was literally true of Steve Berry. Young up-and-coming civil servants at DfT would swap stories of the lengths he would go to dig the department out of some jam or other. Some of these may have got a little exaggerated in the telling, but this was understandable given that whenever you had to work with him the reality always matched the myth. Steve Berry was clever, creative, extraordinary dedicated and a natural communicator. He was also a very nice man. He was one of the best civil servants I will ever encounter, and he deserves every ounce of praise he is getting on this page. Many of us in DfT who knew him did not even know he was ill and are profoundly shocked, as well as obviously saddened, by his death. The department will be a materially poorer place without him, and we'll miss him hugely. Deepest sympathies to his family and friends. Tim S