Now that I finally changed as well in also

Now that you teached me fishes are fish

And after so many other English corrections

After you did this huge job

In correcting and commenting on my columns

And finally the book

You left us

Without me having a chance to pay you back

In dinners and fish

Without me reading

The Final Review

Reading about you

You were more than great in Australia

Writing about so many topics

And finally again about Japan

Here on the other end of the world

Where the news of a shark kept papers alive

You left your traces in friendships

And dinners and party’s

I have been lucky

That one day you and Jane walked into my house

And so we met

And so we worked

Here in the country

Where old history

Of brave wars and great philosophers

Seem to live so close with modern live

You found an island of peace

Sunken into the blue Mediterranean

Where Greeks and foreigners

Mingled into a life of happiness

Here in the little town of Molyvos

For decennia you came back again and again

And now Molyvos lost another

Of its big writers.

Tony, thank you for everything!

Julie

Tony Barrell (7 mei 1940 – 31 maart 2011) corrigeerde voor jaren de Engelse versie van mijn columns die worden gepubliceerd op: http://smitaki.blogspot.com/. Hij was ook de hoofdvertaler van mijn boek Scatterlight Donkeys & Foxballs Ice Cream.