I am on my way to Enfield, for Nancy Tait's funeral. It will be a very sad occasion, of course, but also a celebration of a remarkable life.
Nancy Tait died on 13 February (my birthday as it happens). She was 89. Nancy was born on 12 February 1920. Sadly, she lost her husband Bill in 1968.
The cause of his untimely death was malignant mesothelioma. Nancy had not heard of the word before and was most surprised to be told that it was an asbestos-related cancer.
Nancy set about investigating the circumstances, not realising that her life would take a different course.
She took on the might of the UK asbestos industry, then still at its height. Nancy was incredibly tenacious and she wasn't prepared to be fobbed off.
In those days, mesothelioma was one of the world's rarest cancers but its incidence was increasing. There was no effective treatment and palliative care was not what it is today.
Nancy set up an organisation called 'SPAID' ( Society for the Prevention of Asbestosis and Industrial Diseases ) which later became 'OEDA' ( Occupational & Environmental Diseases Association ).
She dedicated the last 40 years of her life to uncovering an inconvenient truth, i.e. that asbestos (the once dubbed "magic mineral") was in fact highly toxic.
Asbestos would become the world's biggest occupational killer, and was responsible for the UK's number one public health disaster.
Nancy was the first true asbestos campaigner, still unrivalled. She helped countless victims and their families.
I had the immense privilege of knowing Nancy for the best part of 20 years. She was awarded an MBE, some 15 years ago, in recognition of her outstanding service.
She had gone from being a voice in the wilderness to being the voice of reason, the establishment if you like. An iconic figure.
In The Guardian's obituary, Professor Nick Wikeley compared Nancy to Miss Marple. There were physical and intellectual similarities - it was easy to underestimate Nancy if you didn't know her. Self-taught, she perhaps knew more about asbestos than anyone else on the planet - she was highly regarded by leading medical and legal experts and victims' representatives.
I fear we will never see her like again; she was unique.
I still can't quite believe that Nancy is no longer with us. The asbestos 'community' is in mourning.
The Independent have published an obituary with more details of Nancy's life.