Gareth O'Callaghan: Two recent deaths remind me there's no substitute for friendship

My friend was a proudly private man, like many older people are; but perhaps that’s what made him feel so acutely lonely at times

Jeffrey Archer was one of my favourite writers in those times when you need a lengthy distraction. File photo: Phil Noble

“After 50 years of storytelling, I have decided the time has come to write my final novel.” 

That’s the first line in the introduction to Jeffrey Archer’s new novel Adam & Eve. Its arrival on the bookshelves on the same morning as his sudden death this week make his words eerily prophetic.