Life line

Harald V. Bergander, born in Breslau, Silesia, in 1944, spent his childhood and youth in Lower Saxony and Baden-Württemberg. He trained as a bookseller, lived and worked in Hanover, Munich, Vienna, Lausanne and Madrid, and from 1973 onwards as a Spanish and French translator in Las Palmas (Gran Canaria) and Eivissa (Balearic Islands). Since 1990, he has lived in Salzburg (Austria) and the Ampurdán (Spanish Catalonia). He was married for fifty-two years to Sabine, who recently passed away after a long illness. 

Even in his youth, he tried his hand at short stories, which circulated among family and friends. It was not until he was past middle age that he succeeded in presenting his themes in the form of a novel. He was only able to tackle publication after his retirement, and even then it would have been difficult without Sabine's constant advice and editing.

Among his chess-playing friends, he is known as Dirty Harry because he sometimes tries out illegal moves in the game. He likes to drink red wine, smoke a pipe, and enjoy good conversation, even with horses and cats. His long-time feline companion was Sir Schnurrli, a noble breed with immaculate white fur and deep blue eyes. Not least because of his exceptionally gentle nature, the animal was raised to peerage.