An Iron Wool

John Milner, a New Zealander noted for successfully opening the Eastern Bloc to the international wool trade, dies aged 84. During the cold war, a period when bureaucracy and suspicion were rife, Milner’s “exceptional charm and approachability” cut across red tape and other hazards of trade beyond the Iron Curtain.

John Milner: February 5 1917 – November 7 2001