The book “Brief Answers to the Big Questions” by Stephen Hawking carries an introduction by Kip Thorne, Nobel-prize winning physicist; he shares how he first met Hawking when he was a PHD student, about his life-long friendship with him, about one of the most remarkable discoveries – Hawking Temperature of Black Holes and a lot more.

Another person to work with Hawking was – Roger Penrose – who received the 1988 Wolf Prize for physics, which he shared with Stephen Hawking for the Penrose–Hawking singularity theorem. In his obituary here, he concludes about Hawking:

Despite his terrible physical circumstance, he almost always remained positive about life. He enjoyed his work, the company of other scientists, the arts, the fruits of his fame, his travels. He took great pleasure in children, sometimes entertaining them by swivelling around in his motorised wheelchair. Social issues concerned him. He promoted scientific understanding. He could be generous and was very often witty. On occasion he could display something of the arrogance that is not uncommon among physicists working at the cutting edge, and he had an autocratic streak. Yet he could also show a true humility that is the mark of greatness.