And on that note...

Last week, I wrote my last column for this year for Expert Investor. And in it, I said, “2021 has been a rough year, as was 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, and 2016. If you made it this far, well done.” And, so, before I power down the computer for the year, here are some of my greatest hits for the year.

Looking back in December is the remit of lazy writers who do not want to put the work into reporting properly and need to fill space. But for me, it’s a form of procrastination since I have a book to finish off and a longform boxing article to write (plus interviews).

This year has really only been half a year for me, given that I spent the first six months of it on parental duty during lockdowns in Germany (the second and third lockdowns melded into one six-month, unpaid holiday).

But I’ve managed to do some good work in the meantime. On the financial side, I wrote a host of features for Funds Europe on everything from green investment to infrastructure to German AGM meetings. I’ve also written a handful of features for Pensions Age, Transform, and Public Finance. I started writing columns for Expert Investor and then promptly started putting together stories on firms like UDI failing, and Vanguard Charitable channelling funding for far-right hate groups. I injected some humour into my writing and then some more, and my editor Kirsten wisely took it out for me. But I think we’ve managed to find something of a balance.

I need to mention Intelligent Insurer, too, who have been a mainstay in recent months, helping me to move a little into broadcasting by having me do video interviews and webcasts for them.

On the non-financial side, I finally got to write my memoir/essay on dive bars and loneliness, ‘Among the Lonely People’ for Litro where it was supposed to go into print around the world, didn’t because of the pandemic, and now sits in a page by itself on the Litro website (along with Medium). My wife always complains that my chair, found on a Berlin street six or seven years ago, is not high enough for her, and my standard response is that I do my best work close to the ground. ‘Among the Lonely People’ is proof of that.

Otherwise, I put some miles on the clock in 2021. For NY Fights, I was in Magdeburg a handful of times to cover some fights put on by SES Boxing. And I was in Madrid to watch British fighter Brian Rose fight middleweight Sergio Martinez, and then I wrote about it for Matt Christie of Boxing News. Last week, I was in Nykoping, Sweden, to spend some time with Erik Skoglund for a longform story about his recovery.

And it is a minor thing, but I have been working on my own sign-off, which I started putting into my Intelligent Insurer work. And the one I have chosen is, ‘And on that note…’ It means that not only is my story finished for now, but that there will be another one tomorrow. Rather fitting for a newsman, I think.

I do not know how rough 2022 is going to be, although I have a feeling that this new normal will be rougher than 2021. But after two years, I think we are all a little more toughened. Our baseline has been moved. So maybe it will not be as bad as it could be. Although I may have made God angry by telling her my thoughts…

# # # # #

A final piece of news. It will not matter much to anyone, but I heard last night that an old pal of mine called Nick passed away suddenly. We met at university in 2000 and until we graduated in 2003, we shared many pints in the union bar, the number of which was uncounted. After graduation, we stayed in touch intermittently through Facebook. He was the type of person that could have called me any time for a place to stay for a night or two and it would have been great to see him. I would have immediately said ‘yes’ without thinking of the time since we had last seen each other, then sat up all night with him to sit, drink, reminisce, and put the world to rights.

Part of me would like to think that he is not dead and that, somehow, he has done all this to escape the Student Loans Company or a jealous husband or someone named Julio or Mr Big. It is nice to think of him sitting on a beach somewhere, happy and healthy. But I know that that is not true, and I will miss him.

It was another, mutual, friend that reached out to tell me of his passing. And while saddened, I am not writing this to process or broadcast any grief. I am writing it because Nick was a good man, and all good men should be remembered because they were good.

So at some point over the holidays, I am going to walk over to the River Spree and get two drinks—one for him, one for me—and I’ll take them by the water. I’ll touch them together and then pour Nick’s into the river and say, “You bastard. You weren’t supposed to go this early.” But I’ll know that this is the way that things go sometimes, because that is life and the good do have a habit of unfortunately dying young.

And then I will think of my friend, and say the words I always do when this happens: You have gone on to take your place among the stars. Godspeed, and good luck. I’ll see you on the other side, further on up the road.

# # # # #

And on that note, it’s time to go. See you all next year.