Advertising
According to people who worked with him, Gerry could be terrifying. He was daring, he knew his value, and he wasn’t afraid to put someone in their place if they weren’t doing their job with the standards he demanded. Bosses included. He was also talented, persistent, resolute, and adamant about becoming famous.
His work was provoking and fun and he had a great ability to portray a message clearly, directly, and strikingly. He started off as a shoe designer and worked to pay off his studies in the USA as a grocery shop boy and a waiter in both Australia and New Zealand. He never managed to study in the States though. Elegantly, he made it there later on, to work.
He shot ads in Los Angeles, and worked in agencies in London, Sydney, Auckland and Madrid. Eager to have fun and to meet the beautiful, the outrageous, and the famous, he looked for the stars of three continents whilst mingling with all. His house in Franco’s Madrid was open to gypsy flamenco musicians to the despair of his bourgeois and racist neighbors, outraged by the company kept in their building. But no one dared go tell him to bring the music down.
He pursued professional recognition, which took the form of trophies like CANNES’ lions (France), CLIO and MAX Awards (USA), FACTS (Australia) and AMPE (Spain). Recognition came from his peers too. Many coworkers, long after working with Gerry, still remember him, his character, and his talent fondly.
He worked accounts for diamonds, petrol companies, art museums, fashion and luxury and he was a first hand witness of the history of advertising. He lived –lucky bastard- through its apex, the 80s. He also quit the moment digital work, in his own words, destroyed the business.
Gerry would have liked to never stop, though. There was always something better behind the next corner, and a bigger opportunity was always coming his way. But eventually he had to stop. And dissatisfied as he was, I can assure you that now that he is gone, he is just content and amazed at how much he did and how many people he touched.
He wasn’t one to give advice. But if ever he did, it would be along the lines of: be cheeky, go for it and fuck the rest.
