BEHIND THE SCENES

Erns Grundling

is leaving the magazine after nine years of service – and several hundred thousand kilometres on the road. He’ll still be contributing articles on a freelance basis, but we decided to mark the occasion by asking his colleagues how they’ll remember his time in the office.

“Erns’s stories don’t enter the world easily. Writing them is hard work for him, with much gnashing of teeth. (His teeth and his editor’s…) But it’s always worth the wait because his ‘babies’ are something to behold. His is one of the strongest voices in the magazine and I’m glad we’ll still be able enjoy that voice for the foreseeable future.” – Pierre Steyn

“No matter the story – whether he’s interviewing a truck driver or doing a round-up of activities on the Garden Route – Erns always comes back bright-eyed and full of admiration for South Africa and its people.” – Esma Marnewick

“We’ve been friends longer than we’ve been colleagues, so I’ll definitely miss Erns’s presence in the office. He has the kind of face that people like to ‘confess’ to, which must be why he gets such intimate, personal quotes from people. His writing is insightful and full of empathy.” – Sophia van Taak

“Erns is impulsive. He’ll sign up to run a half marathon with no prior running experience. He’ll buy a ticket to a Leonard Cohen concert in Italy on a whim and fly there the following week. He can find a home for a rescued kitten within minutes.” – Vania Jooste

“When you read a story written by Erns, you can be sure that every word has been carefully considered and every sentence constructed with care. Writing is not just a job for him. It matters, and as a result he writes with heart – something you can’t fake or learn at a university.” – Toast Coetzer

“Erns has a knack for capturing a scene. I loved his description of the clash of cultures at AfrikaBurn, between the conservative farmers who make the festival happen and the festivalgoers themselves: ‘A bare-breasted woman cycles past. Francois looks away and takes up his measuring tape again. Two-tone meets topless.’” – Suzaan Hall

“I will remember Erns as a kind and generous person who cares about his fellow man. And for his legendary messy desk!” – Donvé Myburgh “Whenever Erns goes on a story, you can be sure he’ll return with epic tales – some printable, some not. Often the behind-the-scenes was as interesting as the feature in the magazine – like when he and his sister got lost on a hiking trail near Uitenhage and had to be rescued by rangers. Or when he shared a hot spring in Zululand with bare-bottomed campers. Erns truly immerses himself in every experience.” – Marijcke Dodds

“Erns’s desk is like a living organism. It seems to have a life of its own, growing weekly with books and notes and artefacts from his travels. In the middle of it all, he manages to produce some of the most human stories you’ll ever read – humbling tales about people on the periphery: a jackal hunter, a woodcutter in the Knysna Forest, the lady who makes the pudding at a church bazaar in the Karoo… Thank you, Erns. It has been a privilege to work with you for so many years.” – Jon Minster

“When I was editor of this magazine, Erns was often on a diet. You could always tell how well he was adhering to his diet by looking at the food on his desk. I recall a Jungle Oats phase clearly. At the time, the desk next to his was occupied by our web editor, a woman who had spent some years living in the Far East. She liked to burn incense at work. One morning, the Media24 board of directors – with Koos Bekker leading the party – came to inspect our offices. I remember them staring at the two desks, the smell of incense mingling with the smell of Jungle Oats in the air. “I could see Erns’s desk from my office. One feverish morning when he was on a deadline, there seemed to be a sort of bustling coming from his direction. But whenever I looked up, he was sitting stock-still behind his computer. When the going gets tough, he seems to write like a dog that has eaten poison. “Then there was the time I sent him to write about the Swartberg Pass. Whenever I phoned to ask how the story was progressing, he’d say things were going well, but he just wanted to drive the pass one more time to check something. After his eighth time driving the pass, I told him to get back to office because he was taking longer to write the story than it took Thomas Bain to build the road!” – Bun Booyens, former editor