Erdmute Greis-Behrendt

Erdmute’s death came much too soon as she would have been such a funny lady for years and years. I saw her whenever I travelled to Berlin, the last time a couple of years ago at a dinner with Annette von Broecker and Colin and Sigi McIntyre, among others. We also met with husband Thomas after the wall fell and gossiped about mutual acquaintances in the old DDR. And we shared a secret that kept us giggling for years. When I first arrived in Bonn 100 years ago, I was on an evening shift when some football story (soccer to me) arrived and was supposed to be translated into British English. As a Yank I barely knew the game, much less how to write about it. I would call Erdmute, send the German story to her and she would put it into English and send it back to me for filing. Then came “curling” - a game I had never heard of - and neither had she. Fortunately Colin arrived in time. I miss her wonderful, infectious laughter and her friendship. ■