Early last year when Paul Walker tragically passed away, I'd just come in from a night out when the news broke on Twitter. There was an agonising wait of an hour or so until a credible source confirmed that the Fast and the Furious actor had, indeed, been killed in a horrific car accident. There are atrocities and wars happening all over the world, with many innocents perishing in ultimately avoidable circumstances. It's horrible. But when a person dies who you may not have known yet recognise from film or TV, it puts a face, a personality to their death and it somehow makes it more intimate. It's no less important, of course, but somehow, it's more relatable, be that right or wrong.

Walker's death had a weird affect on me. I'd met him once in Brazil, during a movie junket for Fast 5. Every member of the main cast was lined up on the lavish balcony of an expensive hotel overlooking the Copacabana. Journalists from all over the world sat around, waiting for their turn to talk to Vin Diesel, The Rock, Walker and other members of the cast and crew. This was a little different than the usual junket setup, which is often uncomfortable for both talent and journalist; usually, you're ushered into a room and politely make small talk with a really famous person while the crew hired by the studio change over tapes. Then, as the interview progresses to an actual conversation, someone gives you an invasive countdown so you can know exactly how many questions you have left. Walker was genuinely different. He hadn't seen the film - "I mean, I heard it's good," he joked - and was more interested in having a conversation than conducting a repetitive interview. Because of the unusual set-up, I could see that he was like this with everyone; different answers to the same questions and a persona that was exactly the same, both off-camera and on (and trust me, this is rare in big stars). When searching for news of Walker's passing the day after the accident, images of his body taken at the scene appeared on Twitter without warning. I won't go into details, but these images have been tough to remove from my brain since.

Right now, there's a collective uprising of love for Robin Williams on social media. It's a truly beautiful thing to see everyone posting their favourite moments from his vast array of classic movies. For me, growing up primarily in the '90s, Robin Williams was the biggest name there was: capable of evoking empathy in serious role like Good Will Hunting, and making you laugh your ass off while improvising on talk shows. Jimmy Fallon put it wonderfully last night when he said "his brain was ten steps ahead of what he was saying. He was the Muhammad Ali of comedy."As cheesy as it sounds, the man had a gift.

Scroll through his IMDB page; it's full of eclectic, superb work that shows a man who wasn't afraid of failure and who took risks. Very few actors possess that kind of bravery in the current thespian climate. Whether he was portraying the lonely weirdo in One Hour Photo or the inspirational teacher in Dead Poets Society, when your public persona was as defined as Robin Williams' was, being able to not only pull off those kind of roles but do it superbly is simply incredible.

I've seen a lot of content written around Williams' passing; we, ourselves, covered it yesterday and today. As the shock takes over and people are looking for any and all info they can lay their hands on, covering a story with a sense of class becomes difficult for publications hungry for hits/buys, or 24-hour news stations looking for an increase in ratings. Me? I don't want to know the particulars of how a man I've never met, but recall with deep affection died. He's gone, for reasons that only he and maybe those close to him know - and that alone is difficult to wrap your head around.

The world is an often dark, tragic and depressing place. But there are people in this world who have a sort of way about them - no matter how dark a certain situation can be, they can shine an inexplicable light over a moment and raise a smile. Robin Williams was one of those people and I hope that you, like me, remember him like that.

There are some organisations out there that do amazing work for people in need. Be it just a chat, a coffee, or something a little more urgent. The folks at Pieta House, The Samaritans and Aware in particular. Or just a mate. A real one will listen!