Trying to read between the lines with the perfect stranger

IN my three weeks travelling throughout Germany for this newspaper during the World Cup almost four years ago, I met a kaleidoscope of interesting characters.

None more so, I learned this week, than an American sportswriter who was once called Mike Penner. He died last November, aged just 52, having since worked under the byline, Christine Daniels.

Several of my visits to some of western Europe’s coolest cities – think watching a brass band in Hamburg’s famous Fishmarket on a Saturday morning or taking in Checkpoint Charlie on my way to the Olympic Stadium – were, unfortunately, as quick as a beery hiccup.