For the first few years of this magazine, we did not have a ‘Last Word.’ We had guest columnists who wrote about their observations of the industry, really starting with Johan Riedenlow, an early contact at HW Carlsen. For several years cement industry analyst Ken Rumph wrote a number of notable columns in the magazine entitled ‘View from the City, while Jean-Marie Chandelle, CEO of CEMBUREAU, wrote a very readable and informative monthly ‘View from Brussels’ for several years until his retirement.
In the October 2001 issue, I wrote a column, at the back of the magazine, about the 9-11 attacks. The shock of those days comes through strongly and I suggested that we were heading for war (although I didn’t know then what form it would take).
From that point on, we decided that we needed to finish each issue with a final column, which became The Last Word. Previous editors and deputy editors including Dr Nino Mancino, Dr Regina Krammer and Dr Amy Saunders have all contributed over the years, and Dr Peter Edwards has written the column for the last year and a half. Amy, Peter and designer Matthew McClements have also helped shape the way the magazine looks over the years.
However, over the years I’ve written more than 150 columns, on a very wide range of topics, not all of them on the cement industry. The Last Words that stick out in my mind are the ones on the nature of human nature, the pointlessness of killing rhinos and tigers (and many other things) to use them in Chinese ‘medicine,’ the possibility of an end to the AIDS crisis, hunger, the ‘end of demand,’ the tragedy of early deaths, ‘stone soup’ and many others. For years I was a climate change sceptic and wrote some columns to that effect, but as the evidence has become uncontrovertible I have changed my mind - completely. I told stories of some of my running and sailing adventures, and wrote down a personal political manifesto (a friend called it ‘perfectly balanced - extreme left and extreme right’). I have mused on the meaning of life more than once. Of course we wrote about the Great Recession, the longest and deepest recession for 80 years, and we may have mentioned Brexit once or twice. The Covid Pandemic has confounded us all, with my early forecast of it being over within 12 weeks being wide of the mark. At the same time, I suggested that India would be the worst-hit of all countries worldwide, and this has unfortunately come to pass. Rereading some of them in our library of back-issues, I realise that I made some mistakes, but the majority - I hope - have stood the test of time. I’m always extremely gratifi ed to receive feedback from readers on these often personal thoughts.
Looking back over all these back-issues reminds me of how far we have come - and how far I have come too. I started as a very junior editorial assistant at another magazine (not even properly knowing how apostrophes work), and after working hard became the editor. I have had many colleagues from around the world over the years, including many interns. Unfortunately, it’s not as easy as it used to be to have people work for us for a few weeks or months, but we have dozens of alumni who are now out there in the real world, having had a boost in their early careers from working with Global Cement. It’s one of things I’m most proud of in our quarter-century history.
We have bene tted over the years from several capable administrators in our company, including Anne, Sandra and Margaret and now Sally, Amanda and Jane. Our printers have been brilliant, firstly Williamsons, and now the excellent Pensord. Our distributor Mail Options has been great too. We have continuously printed the magazine, even through Covid.
No-one lives forever, but we do know of some remarkable participants in the industry - Seb Rosin of Atritor comes to mind - who are still working into older age: still showing up each day, still enjoying the work, and still with something important to give.
The fact is, we all need to realise that we will not be here forever - and we need to plan for that fact. As part of The Pro Way1, our company rules, we are required to ‘be generous in passing on skills and knowledge to colleagues.’ I hope that if I were to fall (or was pushed) under a bus tomorrow, that my colleagues would be able to successfully carry forward our many projects for the global cement industry. I guess that we all need to not only deal with the exigencies of today, but at the same time plan for the uncertainties of tomorrow. After all, change is certain. As they say in Germany, “Sie ruhen, Sie rosten:” ‘You rest, you rust!’
At Global Cement Magazine, our aim is ‘to be the most-trusted, most highly-regarded and market-leading provider of information and events to the heavy building materials industries.’ With great colleagues, help from industry participants and contacts, and support from our valued advertisers, we’ll get there!