Some of you know that this week I received very sad news in learning that my mentor, sifu (teacher) and close friend Martin Sterling had passed away at the age of 46. For those of you who did not know him he described himself as Presenter, Innovator, Evolutionizer, Ring Leader and general Rabble Rouser.
When I first met Martin and joined Men in Black (MIB) one of the first times we ever worked together was at Granada studios in Manchester and the security thought we were the band; I was never sure who they booked, could it have been the Blues Brothers?
I remember a time when one of our younger work colleagues was mugged on Mapperly Tops in Nottingham and Martin went up there just walking up and down the street for hours in the dark in a hope that this mugger was going to jump out on him. And I will never forget how loud he laughed the day we both came out of a photo shoot to see my car being lifted on the back of a truck by the police because I had parked it in a bus lane.
Martin had a skewed view of the world and he always believed you were never too old to have a happy childhood, he lived in Nottingham with a huge collection of toys that included the original daleks from Doctor Who along with a very rear collection of Stingray and Thunderbird models, he loved all that sort of stuff that other people go and see in a museum.
The last time that we were both together was a in a recent visit into Bahrain, on the few days we were not doing a corporate training session we practiced Jeet Kune Do on the roof of the hotel next to the swimming pool for hours and hours while he perfected my technique. How I wish I could get hold of the video footage that was taken (Vaughn Ball if you’re reading this name your price, I know you have the film) Martin is not someone that myself or anyone who had the pleasure in meeting him will ever forget, may God rest his soul in peace.
