John Edmund Riding was a distinguished anaesthetist who became dean of the Faculty of Anaesthetists at the Royal College of Surgeons and a member of the RCS Council in 1976. He grew up in Ormskirk in Lancashire and attended King George V Grammar School in Southport. It was there that he probably acquired the nickname ‘Dinge’: apparently, he appeared in the register as ‘Riding, E’ (he lost the first syllable). He entered medical school in Liverpool in 1941 at the time when the city had just gone through the most intensive bombing of any provincial city in the United Kingdom. He qualified in 1947. His first house job was in Wigan, where he was introduced to the arts of anaesthesia, including the use of peripheral nerve blocks. His medical post was in the Stanley Hospital in Liverpool. He returned to Wigan as an anaesthetic registrar and was encouraged to join the newly-created postgraduate training course founded in Liverpool by T Cecil Gray – a future dean of the Faculty of Anaesthetists and an honorary FRCS. With clinical attachments in Liverpool, Riding passed the examinations for the diploma in anaesthesia and, in 1954, became a fellow of the Faculty of Anaesthetists. His research leading to his MD was into the problems of nausea and sickness following anaesthesia especially in relation to what became known as the Liverpool anaesthetic technique – a combination of light general anaesthesia, neuromuscular block and artificial ventilation to lower blood carbon dioxide tensions. In 1956, he became a demonstrator in the newly-created university anaesthetic department in Liverpool led by the then Professor Gray. He kept that post until his retirement in 1986. Gray was one of the two editors of the *British Journal of Anaesthesia*. That journal was the second English language journal in the world devoted solely to anaesthesia. It had been founded in 1923. It had gone through hard times in the war and was rescued in 1949 with the appointments of Gray and Falkner Hill from Manchester as editors. They changed it from two issues a year to the first monthly publication in the specialty. In 1959, Riding became an assistant editor in Liverpool. That small office dealt with all matters relating to acceptance and publication. In 1961, Gray was awarded a Sims travelling fellowship to allow him to visit Australasia for several months. He ‘asked’ Riding to undertake all the editorial duties in his absence. On his return, Gray’s comment was that Riding was doing so well, he should continue as editor. This post he filled with distinction up to the end of 1972. In this time, the *Journal* doubled in size, in numbers of papers published, subscribers and in price. As an editor, he was always most courteous and helpful to young and especially to overseas authors, who may not have had English as their first language. He did have high standards: jargon was not permitted – ‘tracheas’ were intubated, not ‘patients’. Throughout his time as editor, the journal was published on a shoestring with often a relatively large overdraft. It was run from a small office with the aid of a part-time secretary, Emmeline Lloyd, who eventually acquired an electric typewriter and a dictating machine. She occasionally had to make a heart-felt plea to the treasurer for money to buy postage stamps! At the end of his editorship, Riding became the honorary treasurer for the next decade, when the finances were rescued following a change in publishers. In 1970, he was elected to the board of the Faculty of Anaesthetists and four years later became the chairman of its examinations committee. The examinations were changing in format, with more emphasis on the developments in technology, in the physics, pharmacology and physiology relevant to anaesthesia. Multiple choice questions were in vogue, but needed much attention to ensure adequate comparisons with the Faculty examinations in Dublin. His second major problem was that the examinations committee undertook the assessment of hospitals as places where trainees would receive adequate experience and teaching for the examinations. Originally the assessments were for the district hospitals, but to ensure that the teaching hospitals were also assessed a newer hospital recognition committee was created. Riding ensured that high standards were created. In 1976, he was elected as dean of the Faculty. Of the many problems he faced, two stand out. Firstly, many women could only manage part-time training in the specialty. Indeed, his wife, Joyce, had suffered earlier because she could not continue as a full-time anaesthetic trainee and bring up her two children. Only later could she complete a training in psychiatry, which led to her becoming an outstanding leader in that specialty. Riding was a strong supporter for the recognition of schemes for part-time trainees. A second problem was the role of the Faculty within the Royal College of Surgeons. From its inception, its powers were limited by the need for formal approval by the Council of the RCS. Many fellows resented this and were in favour of a full break and the creation of an independent college. Others, of a more conservative view, were aware of the many resources available for the Faculty with the staffing, space, general facilities and the finance present at Lincoln’s Inn Fields. The immediate solution was to amend the charter of the RCS to increase the participation of all faculties in the Council (with voting rights) and to delegate many matters directly to the boards. Riding carried these through. He also became the representative of the RCS and the Faculty on the General Medical Council – one of the few jobs he found somewhat onerous. All through this time, he maintained his clinical practice in Liverpool. He ran a pain clinic for patients with chronic problems. They regarded him as a friend as well as a doctor. It was not unknown for them to arrive with gifts of fruit, flowers or vegetables from their gardens. His surgical colleagues also appreciated him – he was fast and efficient, not infrequently coping with three patients at once, one in the anaesthetic room, one on the table and one in recovery. On his retirement his surgical colleagues, uniquely, held a gala dinner for him. In retirement, a major interest for both Dinge and Joyce was gardening. They were experts in cultivating rhododendrons and both members of the Royal Horticultural Society. They eventually had to sell their house. I met the purchasers at his funeral. They introduced themselves as the ‘purchasers of his garden’. They had been novices; Dinge came back to help and guide them with the estate. Joyce and he travelled widely and had a great love for music. Sadly, Joyce died in December 2017 and Dinge was left with deteriorating eyesight. But, with the help of the Royal National Institute of Blind People, he kept up with the latest books. One last touch: in his last years, he was regularly visited by a retired member of the local church. His comment at the funeral was that, after an hour of so with Dinge and tea, he always went home feeling much better. Dinge died on 17 June 2018. He was 94. He was survived by a son, a daughter and a grandson. He was one of the true gentlemen and is missed by all of us.