Tuesday, January 06, 2009

Remembering David Burns

I probably only met David Burns a dozen times, but I enjoyed each occasion. He was funny, lively, honest and very, very brave.

It was so sad to hear of his death over the weekend; thinking about his family spending their last Christmas with a loving father and husband.

Personally speaking, he was always supportive and encouraging for what we did at Insider. In May he contributed an excellent presentation on the Chill Factore, his latest venture, at our Business of Sport Summit. But before that he also gave me a great deal of advice and guidance on what was needed to make the event a success. He'd been the chief executive of the Football League between 2000 and 2002 and knew his stuff; I wish I'd had the chance to be in a pub quiz team with him.

He came to a lunch at my old school last January as the wine flowed he had us all pledging support for a school trip to his ski slope. He was on great form.

One of our mutual friends spoke to him just before Christmas and said he was in good spirits, describing his medical condition in great detail, but with much humour; also picking apart the organisational shortcomings of healthcare.

When I interviewed him for Insider last year he was very open about his battle with cancer. It was inspiring to hear at the time - though to read it back it's heartbreaking.

He continued to throw himself into his new job at the Chill Factore. He continued to take in plenty of football matches, watching Sheffield Wednesday, Rangers, Altrincham, but anyone really. He lived life to the full.

He was one of the good guys and he leaves many, many friends with happy memories of him.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I only met David once - at the Dinner at Lancaster Grammar School. I remember him as a quick-witted man who was very good company. Sad sad news.