This will be the first 9/11 where I am no longer an employee of STARS. 9/11 has always been intimately tied to STARS for me, but now with STARS not even having a NY office the tie is different. Many of the old gang will get together to toast the friends we lost. The day has become a combination of reunion and memorial.
While the memories are painful, they remind me of the old STARS organization that I loved to work for. To remember the good folks we lost, here is my post from last year.
Stu and I were talking this morning after the brief Marsh ceremony. Our fear is that everyone’s memory is becoming fuzzy. Many people (such as yourself) are no longer with STARS…and we’ve hired so many new folks since then. I appreciate what you wrote last year and that you wrote something this year even though you’ve moved on to bigger and better things. I’ll join you in that toast.
Steve, somehow I missed your post last year. I read it this morning and it brought back many good memories.
Here are some of my reflections on our friends.
Scott – My fondest memory of Scott was singing Broadway show tunes in London with him at Markowitz’s flat. We were both drinking (imagine that) but he could still carry a tune. I can’t, with or without alcohol.
Michele – One of the nicest people you would ever meet. We had a lot in common and I actually hired her or at least was part of the interview team that brought her over to STARS.
Chris – He was so looking forward to playing in my golf outing, scheduled for the week after 9/11. The last time I saw him was the Friday before 9/11, every time he passed me in the halls of the 96th floor he would take an imaginary golf swing and say something like “right down the middle”.
Jeff – He worked on my team and was one of the smartest people I ever met. He was always 3 steps ahead of anyone and always had a good idea on how to solve our client’s problems. I recall he was a big runner as well.
Leah – I met Leah on 9/7, she had just started in my group a few weeks prior. Jeff introduced me to her. She seemed like a very nice person.
I didn’t know the others very well but one other person I wanted to mention was Pete Moutos.
Pete was part of MCT (or whatever we we’re called then) but not specifically STARS at the time. Pete was a unique individual to say the least. Pete had many Pete-isms but my favorite is the way I describe him now. He would say to you when you met him for the first time “The honor was only exceeded by the pleasure” of meeting you. So true about Pete.
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