House, tree, belly

A few lives ago, I was the interim editor-in-chief of the weekly magazine Flair. The real editor-in-chief had a third child and wanted to enjoy it for a long time, so I hopped from deadline to deadline for eight months.

I was also allowed to ‘just do my thing’, so I did. I was craving a male columnist. Someone with children, but with a story. Preferably someone with a blended family, for relatability. And fun, he had to be fun. A nice guy and a father as you would draw him. That.

If possible, also someone who could writebecause it is also nice that your columnist just submits his piece himself and doesn't have to deal with an editor who then has to make a coherent story out of it. Because yes people, there are a lot of people who really don't write their own column . No, I won't name names. Unless I run into you and you give me two white wines.. But there are also people who can really write.

Linda, for example. . No comma is changed in her foreword. Anyway, I digress. I came across Bastiaan Ragas. Father of four, married to Tooske and well divorced from Laura Vlasblom. Bas wrote songs, so a weekly column should work too.. I emailed, he called. "I actually think it sounds really fun." And before we knew it, we were sitting together in the bar of the Hilton talking about the format. From Flair, Bastiaan hopped to De Telegraaf. And yesterday he presented his third book; House, tree, belly. If I was coming too, because it all started with me. I consider it an honor, Bas. And if I like your book as much as I like you, this will be a bestseller.

A few lives ago, I was the interim editor-in-chief of the weekly magazine Flair. The real editor-in-chief had a third child and wanted to enjoy it for a long time...