I dont think he's particularly held in high esteem, I think when he passed there was a realisation that for all his faults he was a forest fan who cared about the club.
Also I didn't bring him up, someone was using ND as an example to justify EM'S reign of terror...
I know, ND & his family were/are Forest fans - unfortunately, it's the same up & down the land, fans are very quick to turn on owners.
The whole ownership argument will see both you & Mao 'being right'.
I don't know enough about EM to know whether the allegations against him are true or not, but there has been an improvement compared to what went before at NFFC.
Perhaps, with Hughton as Manager and Vrentros taking a back seat, the atmosphere may improve?
You only have to look at other clubs; Derby, Chelsea, Leeds, Owls etc etc
The owners are heroes one minute, villains the next.
IMO (currently) EM > Fawaz/Scholar etc
Not sure about the comparison with ND just yet.