Group photograph with Douglas Coupland

In the photograph, only a fragment of my face can be seen, which gives the impression that I was only vaguely there, as if I were just another faded scribble left on the wall. At the time I did not feel like that at all - It was the realisation of the physical presence of someone I deeply admire, as his arm was around me, almost as if he was holding onto me, that drew me back into the reality of the scene. I look at the group photo and smile when I see the other great people from different parts of the world I was sharing that moment with, and I know then that, in that connected moment, we were all a part of something amazing, and that will continue, it just has to. I wandered to a bookshop the day after, and opened up one of his books, and we were there in those books just as he was, all of us.