David was an enthusiast.
Everything he did, he was enthusiastic about.
He'd want to teach you. With that wicked smile. And quick, ready laugh. So charming. He was a real charmer.
So much so that he charmed the HSBC bank in Hong Kong — its headquarters! — to give him a job. Even when he was put in charge of Trust business, but thought it was, like, truss, as in a roof truss. Yet he charmed them. He was enthusiastic. And he grew that Trust business. As I'm sure he could have grown the business of a home-builder's roof truss business, just as well.
He loved his sports, and was good at many. He was more than good at skiing. He was great -- an Aussie Junior Olympic ski team member.
When we'd finished doing a classic car rally in northern Italy in 2002 -- The Winter Marathon -- we went skiing together in Madonna di Campiglio.
David was surprised that I could keep up with him ... though he was probably at half pace.
He taught me how to "Ski Like An Eagle". This was his term.
It was really a way of doing ski-racing turns, but he turned those turns into the flight of an eagle, going from side to side of the piste, a circling eagle in the thermals, arms up, like the wings of the raptor, hard down on the weight-shift, drive the carve of the turn into the white air of snowy powder.
He is our David, our wonder man, our lovely father, husband, brother, uncle. Our dear friend. This enthusiast. This charmer. This man … is now skiing…. Skiing like an Angel.
Skiing like an Eagle, sadly past, too early, past for him. And too early gone from us.
Vale, dear David. .
