Beyond belief | 21 July 2007

On board S/Y Bushido

Last Friday the 13th was not a good-news day. I was in Ibiza, sailing around, when the papers were brought in and I read about the death of my old and very good friend Nigel Dempster. Actually, it was a blessing. He had been suffering for years and every time I spoke with him – to him, rather, as he was unable to towards the end — it was getting worse. Talk about the end of an era. How I miss the good times with him. Then over the telephone we heard that Huntsie Schoenburg, my 19-year-old nephew, a six-foot-four blond Yale student, and the sweetest and kindest boy I know, has to have chemo for a brain tumour. (The outlook is good, however, as the thing was discovered in time.) Finally, the results of the trial in Chicago. My friend Conrad Black beat nine out of the 13 charges, but it doesn’t look good, according to press reports.