When visiting Shrewd'm with a laptop, it can be pleasant to hold Command (or Ctrl with Windows) and '+' a few times. The site scales to allow any font size, and the larger font can be pleasant to read even for Shrewds with perfect sight! For luxury Shrewdness, you can combine that with setting the browser to full screen. You'll then find yourself Shrewding a lot.
- Manlobbi
Halls of Shrewd'm / US Policy❤
No. of Recommendations: 27
Toast to Ben…he passed 20years ago today. Wow!Seems like just yesterday…his daughter was just a toddler at the time
No. of Recommendations: 7
A very generous soul who lived life to its absolute fullest. He taught many of us. Thanks for the reminder.
No. of Recommendations: 0
For someone who wasn't around back then, who was Benkea?
No. of Recommendations: 3
Toast to Ben
And to Eurotrash.
Meeting him in Tokyo will always be in my memory.
No. of Recommendations: 1
Cheers to Ben and Euro!
I don’t really remember Ben’s posts for some reason, but I remember Euro’s. He seemed like an interesting dude.
What did Euro do for work? Does anyone know?
No. of Recommendations: 7
Thank you Tairbear00. For the reminder. 20 years ago today? That's unreal.
I remember the day very well. That was one terrible, awful day. A day with news that I could hardly believe!
I think I printed all messages regarding Benkea's accident. And death. And mailed them all to you. So that you could pass them on to Ben's wife. Was that the AOL board?
What a freak, tragic accident.
I didn't know Benkea per se. But I felt like I knew him. Ditto Babyb. And ditto you. Subsequently, we did make it to a few Berkshire annual meetings. But I never met up with any of you three.
I did meet Sherri and shared a toddy pulled from her purse. I talked to her via phone several times, too. I also briefly met Tode at one of the annual meetings. I am so glad to see him back!!!
But Benkea? It's still very sad.
Mary
No. of Recommendations: 7
What did Euro do for work?
William/Euro worked in Tokyo for an American company, currency trader if I remember correctly, but I don´t know more.
This is now a quarter century away, as I met him in Tokyo in 2000, while travelling the world when moving (back) then from New Zealand to Germany. My partner and me had dinner with him in a tiny restaurant in Tokyo, one of the best meals in my life.
Before I knew him only from this board, to be knowledgeable, witty and funny --- and never ever offending or attacking anybody. Same in person. One of the nicest person I ever met, a guy you want to have as a friend and mentor. Died just a few years later, far too young.
No. of Recommendations: 6
And please let me add something the one´s having known Euro only from the board can´t know.
While his posts were interesting and often funny, were always pleasant to read, in real life there was much more to him. I vividly remember my impression and envy after experiencing Euro in real life: "He is just a few years older, but I will never become as mature as him" (true until today). I loved Euro, the poster, but Euro, the person, was much more, was hugely impressive.
No. of Recommendations: 1
Said,
Thank you for that thoughtful reply.
I had an inkling that Euro was a very interesting person, and you have confirmed that. Sorry for the loss of your friend.
No. of Recommendations: 36
EUROTRASH = William Lamayer
Wil and I were good friends here in Portsmouth NH. Both of us were raised here in New England. We would meet frequently for dinner. In person, he was everything described by Said and others here in this thread - never said an unkind thing about anyone, was pensive and thoughtful before speaking, and possessed a very unique sense of humor. He was a tall and very big boy! When we greeted each other, a firm handshake would be followed by a warm bear hug which always seemed a bit awkward. It was like Don Rickles embracing Lurch from The Adams Family.
He was a bond trader in Tokyo, retired early in life, and pretty much lived off his assets acquired during his career and but still dabbled in the markets like all of us do. I remember his lovely wife from Japan once looked at me with this wry smile and quipped, “Wil needs to find a new job and get back to work.” But he didn’t miss the stress and was at peace just living idly and quietly. He got tired piddling around with home/yard maintenance, so he sold his homestead in Exeter, NH, and bought a condo in downtown Portsmouth where he could walk his dog every day and enjoy the many nocturnal opportunities for fine wining & dining here on the seacoast. He was so proud of his kids and loved to brag on them. They all graduated with honors from several notable US colleges.
Whenever we got together for dinner, we would spend only the first 5 minutes or so talking Berkshire or other trades “du jour” and then devote the rest of the evening talking about anything else but investing. He had an insatiable interest in aviation, so we would venture off in that direction. Or maybe discuss soil fertilization, ph levels, and the challenges of trying to get my damn Hydrangeas to bloom after an unusual winter. He used to needle me in a kind and comical way about my horrible position in USG, but would offer faint praise for scooping up a bunch of WFC during and after the Great Recession, which I subsequently dumped. He said I had more “cajones” than him but acknowledged that the trade was “well played.” He could have fun with me like that because he knew that in my heart of hearts, I was mostly a buy and hold kinda guy with BRK, and would only sparingly coat-tail a couple picks now and then from Buffett.
I miss him dearly. RIP, my good friend…
https://www.brewittfuneralhome.com/obituaries/Will...
No. of Recommendations: 2
How could I miss that spelling error? Please forgive me ol’friend. You’re probably up there right now in heaven laughing and needling me again — “Ray, even if you don’t know a damn thing about the wallboard industry, at least spell my name right!” 🤣
EUROTRASH = William Lameyer
No. of Recommendations: 4
I corresponded a fair amount with Euro back in the day, but never met him. Pretty sure he had a brother (attorney?) in Austin, where I generally live. Unless I'm mixing him up with someone else (don't think so), he had a stint during that time (or maybe a bit before?) where his job was being a professional poker player in Taiwan. He knew numbers/probability extremely well, and apparently mostly made a living doing that for a bit. How long, I'm not sure. He was a great guy to exchange ideas with! Can't believe he's been gone so long. Damn it, life can be that way sometimes. True intellectual that lived a very eclectic, interesting life.
No. of Recommendations: 2
I didn't know Eurotrash well, but we exchanged correspondence
on an occasional basis. I took his advise in dumping Intel back
in the day, which saved me more than a few shekels.
-Rubic
