A HAPPY CHILDHOOD I grew up in the suburbs of Dusseldorf, Germany. I remember playing in the fields and gardens around my home and enjoying long summers; making bonfires, cooking potatoes in the ashes and playing guitar and singing with the neighbouring children. Sports were always in my genes and my talent [Schweder was a long-distance runner in the German junior athletics team] was 'discovered' when I won a citywide cross-country running competition at 14. Athletic training was a big part of my life in my teenage years.
ANDY & BOB I didn't go straight into the hospitality industry. I studied journalism at the Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich and then, in 1979, worked as an intern for [pop artist] Andy Warhol's lifestyle/fashion/art/celebrity magazine. I also organised events at his Factory: an office-cum-studio-cum-party venue where Andy did all his work. I was given an assignment in Barbados and Jamaica for a German music magazine and I interviewed [reggae superstar] Bob Marley at the Hilton Barbados. I had always wanted to work with people, travel and be exposed to many cultures and I got hooked on hospitality. I did an apprenticeship in Germany and studied at the School of Hotel Administration at Cornell University, in New York. My journey as a globetrotting hotelier had begun.
HOME IS WHERE THE HEART IS I first came to Hong Kong in 1990, to launch the Ritz Carlton. Although I was later assigned to work on the opening of Ritz Carlton properties in [the United States], my heart was in Asia, so I came back as resident manager of the Kowloon Shangri-La. Hong Kong was enjoying great prosperity in the early 1990s; the city was in a constant buzz. I left in 1994, to work at the Shangri-La Taipei.
DEVASTATING NEWS One weekend, when I went for a run in Taipei, I realised that my stamina and strength had declined considerably. I blamed it on a tremendous workload and a party lifestyle. I went to a hospital in Taipei and was diagnosed with level-four terminal lung cancer. I sought a second opinion in another private hospital and the result was the same. I was devastated but did not feel doom and gloom. I accepted that it was out of my control.
After an eight-hour operation, I was advised that nothing would save me; that the tumour mass was too close to my heart and the cancer had spread. I was sent home with six to 12 weeks to live.
ALOHA AND GOODBYE Hawaii has something magical about it and I was fascinated by its ethereal beauty and charm - I felt that I wanted to die there. [My best friend] and I flew to Hawaii with our girlfriends to fulfil my one last wish; I wanted to discover those magical islands first hand in my last days alive. I accepted very quickly that I did not have much time left and that I was going to die at 35, which in many ways was the best stage of my life. I felt satisfied with the wonderful experiences I'd had, the solid friendships I'd built and the joyful moments I'd shared. I could die without regret.
Even when the situation seemed hopeless, though, I did not give up. I received conventional medical treatment [such as chemotherapy and radiation] and actively sought alternative healing. I learned how macrobiotic diets, vitamin supplements, yoga and meditation heal and strengthen our immune system. I learned to develop inner strength, which helped me tremendously in overcoming the fear of the inevitable.