“I have lost a brother,” writes Kees van Kooten. On Sunday in the VPRO guide, he responds for the first time to the death of his companion Wim de Bie, with whom he formed an influential cabaret duo for years.
“Wim and I have known each other for seventy years,” continues Van Kooten. “That is a lifetime. In high school he was two grades above me. I looked up to him greatly. Literally, because he was tall.” Van Kooten describes himself as an “excited little guy”, while Wim was more thoughtful. “He saved me from disaster more than once.”
In his farewell, Van Kooten reflects on De Bies’ knowledge of jazz and poetry, his nose for talent and his ‘antenna for new technical possibilities’. But what Van Kooten will miss most is the everyday contact with De Bie, he writes. “Just calling, visiting each other, that casual. And of course Wim’s sense of humor, his sharp eye. Something is definitely closed. Like a part of me has died.”
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