A Portrait of Arved Fuchs by Till Gottbrath

"Write something about Arved, Till , " Steffen , who makes Jack Wolfskin catalogues , said to me .Alright , I will write something about Arved " You have about a half a page to fill ," Steffen added But how can one write about someone and do him justice with just half a page available ? In addition , after spending months together on expeditions, about someone one knows extremely well ? A fair picture in such limited space is nearly impossible. But , Oh well , seeing as Steffen asked ..............
Shall I make a list of all his expeditions ? Shall I at last disclose the truth about all the rumors , sayings , etc, that spread after he had crossed the Antarctic with Reinhard Messner ?Shall I say what a good chap Arved is ? Or what a tough macho—statements like that are known to make best sellers..........after the motto , "coldness is his after shave "
I do not know. Perhaps instead of such heroic uttering., I should say a few normal things about Germany`s best known adventurer. For example that he is an old rocker, that his eyes light up when he hears Lynard Skynard, Deep Purple and Joe Cocker ;that his mouth waters when he sees liquorices or fresh asparagus and ham : that by no means is he an abstinent ascetic , on the contrary, he likes to sit with his crew on board and enjoy a glass of wine or a beer ; that it is better not to phone his office before ten o'clock in the morning His flat is next door to his office and at this time he is guaranteed to be captain of his own bath tub. Probably, due to his very active life, in the limited time at home, he tries to bring his average sense of cleanliness up to that of a civilized person.
Should I disclose the fact that he does not like journalists at all with their pre-formed opinions and ideas about the text ? Or perhaps that his adventurous life, at least when back home , means chasing from one appointment to the next with a day so full of work that it would make the busiest trade unionist dizzy at the thought ? That in private , despite his eloquent appearance on talk shows, he is rather an introverted person. Although, around a camp fire or on board ship, he will sing at the top of his voice, songs by John Denver, Neil Young, sea shanties and Irish folk............maybe not always in tune but definitely whole heartily. Or should I tell you that he would refuse a sponsor from the tobacco industry and would only work with people he considered to be honest. Or that he drinks coffee like a drain , preferably black and strong ; that he hates muesli but eats it for months on end because it is nutritionally valuable. I really do not know what to say. Arved Fuchs , for me , is just a normal person, although normality is a highly debatable point. But he is definitely a person who has the courage to live his life after his own convictions .