Some of you may still remember Terrible Turk from MyT days yore. He was acerbic, at times abrasive but, in the end, a true gentleman. He was a product of the early post-war years, a man who craved moral and social certainties and certitudes. He had a good career, 30 years in the Middle East for the US Geologic Survey with sojourns into South and South-East Asia. After his retirement, he settled in small-town Virginia where he became a fixture of the local social scene.
He was on my case for years, most recently because of my preference for stepping away from academia and moving, at least partially, into private industry. He was convinced that academia needed at least a few people who weren’t certifiable Bolsheviks amongst its ranks.
You may have noticed that I have discussed him in the preterite. This is no accident. I was informed less than half an hour ago that he has passed away. After a spirited battle with cancer, one that required having his bone marrow removed and replaced, Atropos did her grim deed.
Boadicea's Chariot 
I remember him well – hard and direct on the surface, but an avuncular teddy bear underneath. Sorry to hear that he’s departed this mortal coil – requiescat in pace, old chap.
Christopher, possibly you meant to use the word “preterite” (verb forms relating to the past), but “predicate” is a horse of an entirely different colour. Some typo! 😎
That there Yankie spell-checker probably don’t include preterite!
Forgive me Bearsy and Janues (Backside, too!) for I have sinned. I was in a rush yesterday and didn’t proof-read my post.
Janus: My spell-check is set to British English. As someone who marks papers regularly, I ought to know better. After all, many students don’t seem to realise that spell-check only marks spelling errors, most do not highlight usage errors.