Andre Ratti

Andre Ratti got me my first press pass.

Andre was Swiss and was studying in Berlin when I arrived. Jeno brought me to meet Andre, who lived at the time in a cheap, bare attic apartment. In Germany, all students' tuition and a modest stipend was paid for them. Unless they were wealthy, students lived very cheaply and frugally.

These photos were taken in Andre's apartment.

Though he appears relaxed in these photos, among good friends, Andre was absolutely the epitome of Swiss refinement, upbringing and traditional manners. When Jeno and I arrived, Andre, ever the perfect host, put a kettle of water up to boil for tea. We then got engrossed in conversation and the water continued to boil, until Jeno noticed it and went to pour it on the tea. Andre jumped up, stopped Jeno, poured all the water out, refilled the kettle and proceeded to boil fresh water. In his world, one simply did not use water that boiled past reaching the boiling point.

Then, after tea, Andre explained to me how the world of higher education worked and Jeno tried to make himself useful by washing up. When Andre and I were finished conversing, we went over to see how Jeno was doing. Jeno, who had some time on his hands after finishing had decided to clean Andre's filthy-looking old teapot, and very proudly showed Andre how sparkling white he had gotten the kettle.

Well, Andre almost had a heart attack. It seems he had spent years getting that thick old tea-stain patina from umpteen pots of tea onto that pot. The pot was perfect, and now, in the twinkling of an eye, Jeno had undone all that patience and time and turned a masterpiece back into an ordinary pot. Of course, we all ended up roaring for laughter. But that was how Andre was.

After finishing school in Berlin, Andre went back to Switzerland to begin a career as an editor of magazines and books which was his area of study as a student. His first job was as editor of the Swiss journal "Die Woche" and he promptly sent me a press card from "Die Woche" (which I still have).

We remained in touch for quite some time, even meeting in the US, where Andre spent some time learning his trade more thoroughly.

Previous | Next

Andre Ratti Index | People Index

Click on the Gallery to see the full list of categories.