I must admit to being literally floored by the number and tenor of letters that poured into my poor inbox in the hours after I posted The King's English. Your support is overwhelming. Far from the drab self-serving musings I assumed everyone mostly endured in Going Private for the sake of the occasional bright spot, you draw a picture of the blog as a bright and engaging source of light. To quote one reader/writer:
...a bright, and heartbreakingly lonely beacon of brilliant insight and observation in an otherwise dark, and endless sea of ignorance and financial mediocrity.
-Anonymous Portfolio Manager
I thought this a bit excessive until I finished going through my inbox. The comments continue, unabated, in this vein, twice exceeding my incoming mail quota. Many began with the preface that the author had not, heretofore, the "courage to write to you." This puzzles me as I always endeavor (though not always successfully) to respond to each email with at least a cursory "thank you."
I would describe for you the many other contributions, but I feel I would do them little justice in summary. At the risk of sounding immodest and mimicking an old world era inventory of ship's stores (which would explain the amazing commonality of ocean and sea voyage references in the comments) I will merely excerpt:
...given all the deals being done in London (and beyond), your claim that your diary would serve little purpose seems hollow.
-SM
...I've been spending a considerable amount of my time everyday savoring your take on private equity and hedge funds.
-SR
The business, I imagine, is not without a new set of nuances when transposed into a new land. But the mechanics of the business do not change, do they? I see no reason why your diary should end after a relocation to London. It will just be a bit different. As long as the writing is as lucid, the turns of prose as hypnotic, the content as thought provoking, as they were prior to the move, all will be well.
-K
Quite selfishly, I do hope you intend to continue Going Private on some level, as the site has become more to your readership than you may have intended or even know about. Specifically, your in depth intellectualism and pursuit of reason in an often times irrational world has led me to strive with greater passion to become more of a professional, more of an intellectual, more of a student of private equity and, in fact, finance and politics in general. Your content and thought process is a refreshing oasis in a sandy sea of contrite and flippant blogs that are as immature as they are uninformative. I look to you daily for thought provoking wisdom and wish it to continue in perpetuity.
-CR
...I've grown quite attached to "Going Private" over the past year-or-so. I've always appreciated your insight and wit, and I'm sure I'm not the only one. So I'll keep it short and sweet. If you must leave for the other side of the Atlantic, please don't give up this exercise.
-MA
Your highly arrogant and dismissive style coupled with an unabashedly capitalist world view brands everything you touch with the searing scorch of "free market at any cost." The stench of burning flesh is a constant reminder of your political leanings. Please forward by email the RSS links to your new site as soon as they are available.
-Anonymous SEC Attorney
Reading your blog today from here in London, which I've always enjoyed, made it seem like you'd be sent to Siberia.
-JW
Indeed.
Well, dear readers, you have prevailed upon me and I am moved. These are but a few of the literally dozens of emails that came sailing in, overwhelmingly positive. (Well, except for one Harvard crank). Thank you one, and all. You've really made my day. My week, even.
Now, to think of a new title....
(Photo: Love Parade, Berlin)
