My memories of Martin: Kind, generous, warm, genuine.

Martin has been one of my dad Chris’ best friends since the '80s when I was young. As kids, my brother and I always looked forward to visits from Martin - he was a giant, he was kind and fun, he’d let us clamber over him, desperate to sit on his tall shoulders and he always had time to play! Somewhere in my parents’ attic is my 1980s Fisher Price recorder and tapes of Martin being relentlessly ‘interviewed’ by us. One Christmas he gave us some brilliant, inflatable, wearable monster-feet that sealed his place as totally awesome.

Dad and Martin worked closely together through the 80s and 90s at Xerox then Dell and in the days before mobile phones when Martin would call the house to speak to dad, my brother and I always wanted to pick up the phone to speak to Martin because he made us laugh and made time to listen to our inane chat. I would pore over the photos of high jinx and fancy dress costumes when mum & dad returned from their many Xerox trips to exotic locations with Martin (favourite albums included pictures of 3-legged races on the beach and some excellent white tuxedos with sunburned faces on their trips to Kenya or Trinidad & Tobago!)

Not long after the Slagters moved to America I started university in the Twickenham/Richmond area where Martin grew up and where I still live now and I also joined the university rugby team, playing in the front row. I was so excited for Dad to let Martin know I’d taken up the egg-shaped ball in the home of rugby and on his home turf!
Though I saw less of Martin after he moved abroad we’d grab a quick chat on the phone when he’d call dad. There was also the annual golf trip to Ireland every spring for dad, Martin and their friends stretching over a few decades and whenever I’d call them in the bar on those trips Martin had time to take the phone to say hello while they were enjoying drinks at the 19th hole. Poor Martin even had the phone passed around on my 40th birthday this year but would dutifully speak to everyone! Martin always had time for people and you’d always put the phone down feeling brighter for speaking with him.

Then when I visited Austin 7 years ago for SXSW festival Martin and Tina helped to make my trip truly special. They extended amazing hospitality, having me to stay in their beautiful home, taking me for dinner and to an amazing live music venue for an evening I’ll never forget, lending me their pick-up truck (which the cops pulled me over in just a few streets from their home because I was driving so nervously like a true tourist!) Martin even met me at an Irish bar to watch the England/Ireland rugby game on St Patrick’s day and, being a true gentleman, he didn’t rub it in when England annihilated Ireland!
Months later after I went through an upsetting breakup Martin was kind enough to email thoughtful words of wisdom. His generosity in every sense of the word was huge. Truly a gentle giant: someone you could have a laugh with and watch the rugby over a beer, but who also had great empathy and sensitivity and could speak from the heart. He was kind, generous, warm and genuine.

I got married a few months ago and will treasure the beautiful card from Martin and Tina, his generous and touching support for our battle with the Home Office and his e-mail with words of encouragement and “positive vibes being sent over the pond". I know in his last chat with Dad a few weeks ago, just as he was leaving England to fly back to Austin, he expressed his exasperation with Britain’s Home Office and asked Dad to keep him posted on mine and my husband’s appeal a few weeks later, hoping they would do the right thing. A week after Martin passed away we won our legal battle with the Home Office. We did it Martin!!!

Martin really is one of a kind. I joined the live stream to celebrate Martin last Friday and it was beautiful, a real celebration. Adam, Luke, Tina and Chris all spoke so beautifully. What a wonderful tribute. I raised a drink to him here in Twickenham. Our family, the Farrells, have a lot of love for Martin and clearly so do many, many people. What a man. What a legend.
Sending so much love to all his family. You’ve been in my thoughts a lot xxx

We each have our “Martin” that we know and love.  Here is a not-so-brief view into my journey with Martin Slagter.

Our first Meeting - My first encounter with Martin was during a phone call when I was interviewing to join him and Andrew in the early days of “Habitech” (later Handtech.com).  I had just finished a pretty grueling inspection from AH, and the last hurdle was to have a chat with Martin, AH’s founding partner in crime who was in charge of the London office for Habitech.  I mustered some of my best BS to convince Martin that I was the guy to hire. After I finished my pitch about how wonderful I was, Martin’s response was simply, “Ok, so what’s wrong with you?”. Not quite the question that I was expecting.  So very disarming as only Martin can do. And that was my first glimpse into the humor, the wit, and the man that would become my friend and mentor for 20+ years!

“The Gentle Giant” -  After a successful test for Habitech in the UK, Martin and Andrew decided to double-down and focus on the US market.  So the Slagters decided to move house to Austin. The .com era in Austin was fraught with companies that lavished ridiculous luxuries on their employees, with daily catered meals, massages, happy hours, fitness centers, etc.  Martin and Andrew were much more practical. We found some heavily used desks and chairs of odd shapes and sizes and set up an office for Martin, right near the front door. Martin arrived, took a seat at the desk and quickly found that his thighs were banging into the top of the desk (being the gentle giant that he was).  So rather than purchase a larger desk, he cut-off a 4x4 fence post into into 6” pieces and placed one “stilt” under each leg of his desk to raise it to the proper height. It was absolutely hilarious, especially when we would host potential investors. It really made a statement about our frugality!

Ever the “Idea Man” - Martin was always moving and thinking forward about new areas where we could be expanding our business.  He was an absolutely brilliant strategist. I knew that a potential curve ball was coming when Martin would pop his head in and say, “DP, I’ve had a bit of an epiphany.  Couldn’t we just….[insert new idea here that massively distracts from our current trajectory!].” I learned that the words “Couldn’t we just…” were a warning flare that Martin wanted to do something new and BIG, but was trying to find a way to slim it down into something manageable.  The man’s brain just never stopped. Always 3 steps ahead and looking farther out. That’s just one of the many areas where Martin really helped me grow.

The “Smoking Carpet” - It was the post-Handtech era and Martin was ready and anxious to start his next great adventure.  After a brief teaser with the idea of starting a Kettle Corn business (yes you read that right), Martin settled on transforming himself into a restaurant mogul as the central Texas franchisee for “Johnny Carinos Country Italian” restaurants.  He invited me to join and I leapt at the opportunity to work again with my fearless friend. We opened several restaurants and set-up our HQ in an office on 360. At some point we decided we needed new office space. By that time we had a fair amount of office infrastructure and IT equipment.  I remember Martin saying, “Come on DP, you and I can do this move by ourselves”. So we rented a big UHaul truck and started loading it. We had this massively long, heavy conference table that we tried to carry...but it was too much. “DP...let’s just drag it”...and so we did. We turned it on its side and dragged it through our office, out the door, down the hall, through the lobby, out to the parking lot and into the truck.  We were quite proud of ourselves. Very manly, indeed. So we went back inside to get a few more things and we noticed a trail of smoking, melted carpet that led right back to the door of our office. “Oh shi$, maybe no one will notice”, Martin said. Of course they DID notice and we ended-up paying to replace a 100’ length of melted carpet!

“A Bit Tricky” - I loved Martin’s distinctively British, fabulously dry wit that would show-up when you least expected it.  I remember discussions where we were thinking through a business problem and 2 mutually exclusive alternatives..and sometimes Martin would want to do them both.  I would say, “But Martin, if we do this, then how can we do that?”. He would reply, “DP, that might be a bit tricky!”

“Whiteboard Junky” - Let me just say it.  Martin was one most business savvy entrepreneurs I have ever had the privilege to work with.  He was great at both strategy and operations. Now Martin also had his idiosyncrasies...and one of the bigger ones was his fetish for white boards.  There are not enough white boards on the planet to hold all of his thoughts! The most fun was when we would have a team huddle where we were working through an idea and Martin would be scribbling on the white board, with arms waving, and you could tell there was a mental mind-dump happening right in front of you.  Now at the end of the meeting, Martin would leave the room and the rest of us were left there to digest it all.  We would all look at the white board and then at each other, and you were sure that he was writing in hieroglyphics or some form of unbreakable encryption. You just could not read it. And truth be told, when we asked him to clarify what he had written after the fact, he often had trouble decryptng it himself!

The Pringles Incident - Ok, so two of my favorite snacks are Pringles potato chips and Reese’s Peanut Butter cups.  I kept a big stash of both of them in my bottom left desk drawer. Our offices were right next to each other and Martin would often come in to chit-chat and “catch me in the act“ of enjoying my snacks.  I think he was somewhat appalled at my choice of mid-day nourishment. Until one day after I had been away for a few days, he came into my office and said “DP, I have a bit of a confession. I might have helped myself to your snacks whilst you were away.”  And sure enough, there was an open can of Pringles with about 3 chips (I mean crisps!) remaining. And I’m pretty sure he pilfered a peanut butter cup or 2 as well, although he maintained that he would never stoop that low!

There are a million other experiences that I love and remember about Martin and his unique wit and wonderful personality.  Here are just a few of them:

• Martin was indeed a gentle giant.  You first see him and you can help but expect an over the top, cocky personality.  But Martin was far from that. He was in fact the kindest, caring, wicked smart, empathetic, do-anything-for-you person I have ever met.
• Every time we would go to lunch, it would end with, “DP, do you fancy a sweet?”.  I will miss this.
• Mind over matter - Martin never dwelled on the past or on the negative.  Always about solving the problem and moving forward.
• Martin would build you up when “dressing you down” - Martin was my boss for many years, as well as my mentor and friend.  His “criticism” was so constructive that you truly felt energized after a performance review.
• Martin would always surprise you...and you would rarely see it coming.  I remember AH’s infamous disco party where Martin dressed-up like a pimp, all in black and donned an awesome gold medallion for his bling.  Seemingly so out of character, but truly totally in character. It was a sight to see
• His good ole boy pick-up truck with the “Piss Off” sticker on the back window.  Classic Martin!
• The Astro-turf in the back garden.  Massively practical.
• The mail-order Audi.  Not just everybody buys an Audi A7 via eBay, sight unseen!
• And so many more!

To Martin: You have been the dearest friend and a fabulous mentor, and I feel so lucky to have had the privilege of knowing you.  I love you and I will miss you, but know that you have touched so many lives with your kindness, wit, creativity, and generosity.  I am a better person because of you and I will be forever grateful.

Your DP

We can only echo the words of Stephen and Sandra Mihill about Martin.

Sharon started school with Martin in 1960 aged 4 and I first met him in 1967 at Windsor Grammar School.

In fact, Sharon appears in the black and white photo posted by Michael of the 4 year olds which we think was taken at a birthday Party in 1960! Sharon is second left with the bow in her hair!

He was the most special of friends and it seemed completely right that he was Best Man at our wedding in 1976 and subsequently godfather to some of our children.

We have so many happy memories and it is impossible to think of Martin without smiling. From shared holidays, weddings, christenings to an especially funny afternoon in John and Peggy’s garden celebrating the Queen’s Silver Jubilee, we shared in the unique sense of Slagter fun and warmth. There is another hole in our lives now but this one is particularly big!

I know that you will have that glass of champagne waiting!

Sharon and Malcolm Brent