Today, while surfing the Internet trying to find something about the whereabouts of Bryan, my former colleague, I was shocked and saddened to learn that he had died four years ago. Bryan, who I believe joined Overtaal in the same year as me (2003), took over as Lead Translator in the B2B section from Jeroen Oomen, who left to set up his own translation company in Utrecht. Each morning, Bryan would come into the office, greet his fellow translators, sit at his desk opposite mine, place a can of Red Bull and a pack of sandwiches on his desk, clean his spectacles, start up his computer and cast his eye over the day’s translation jobs which the project coordinator had lined up for him on his desk.
As I recall, Bryan came from Melton Mowbray and had once worked as a teacher in Germany prior to moving to Holland. He was the go-to translator for all kinds of knotty translation issues. He was also a talented translator and could translate from French, German and Dutch into English. On occasions, he was seconded by Overtaal to work as an interpreter for SNCF where he was able to exercise his knowledge of French. He often got handed the toughest and most nebulous of texts to translate, which he did superbly well. I usually had the job of peer reviewing them. He peer reviewed my work and that of other translators, and liked to coach the younger or less experienced ones. Bryan had weight issues, though I never brought up the subject with him. I last talked to him in late March 2005, during an exit interview that he arranged in one of the meeting rooms. Anxious to know why I had suddenly handed in my notice, I explained that I had been offered a much-better-paid job in Rotterdam. Excessive work pressure and underappreciation by the management were subsidiary reasons. Astonishing that he managed to stick it out there for a further 13 years. Chapeau! I am glad I had the opportunity to work together with him. What his interests were outside of work, I have no idea. In that respect, he was an enigma. RIP.
Peter K. Smith – Almere, NL
22 Sep 2022