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Her great love was poetry in English, and Emily Dickinson in particular. And she loved the plays of Ionesco and Pinter. In the fifth year, we performed Pinter’s Birthday Party. Joost was Stanley, the main part; André and I played Goldberg and McCann. Our acting talent was sadly wanting, and the fact that the performance was a great success was due entirely to her role as director.

Quite soon, something grew between Laura and Peter that was different from the relationship André, Joost, David, and I had with her. Peter had found a soulmate. From the beginning, Laura clearly felt a deep admiration for Peter’s talent. She was fascinated by what she immediately recognized as something exceptional. We also saw that Peter could do things we couldn’t cope with, but when he became too airy-fairy, we could just as easily put him down as a facile versifier-to-order.

When Peter and Laura talked about poems, they were way above our heads. We didn’t mind, and when we had had enough, we said so. Joost, in particular, didn’t beat about the bush. ‘Crooner and Swooner’, he once called them.