Keith Tester was my friend. He became my friend long before I met him in real life. Keith was an extraordinary correspondent, as others in this memoriam have also commented. I began my epistolary friendship with Keith in 2011, via our mutual friend Peter Beilharz. I now can’t recall why Peter suggested that we should be in touch, but it was an important moment for me. Keith had been Peter’s confidante during a difficult time for him, and he also became mine. Peter and I had fallen in love. Keith showed an exceptional generosity and openness to me, at a time when my other friends had chosen to withdraw their friendship. They felt I had betrayed them. I did not share my loss with Keith, but I think he understood that my letters to him, where I could speak openly about my friendship (and love) for Peter, were a salve for my soul. We discussed books we were reading, films we had watched and all aspects of the everyday and mundane. We had a long conversation over many days about Eurovision, which started as a joke, but turned into a discussion about what it means to be European and English. Keith had a longstanding project on the idea of ‘Englishness’. We discussed the proper way to pour tea – milk first, then tea, never the reverse. He loved the Downs and its old stone churches. Keith also loved the Italian café in Melbourne, Brunetti’s. I often took photos of the extravagant and elaborate cakes for which they are famous and sent them to him. He loved Nick Cave, but I found him too maudlin, although we agreed that the song with Kylie Minogue was excellent. I finally met Keith in 2013 in England. Peter and I went to Worthing and stayed with him and his family. We walked to the Worthing Pier on a windy evening. I have photos of us, blurred, but now treasured. I picked up a white pebble from the Worthing beach to remember our time together. It sits on our bookshelf. I wanted a place-making memento, a habit acquired over the years – sticks, rocks, pebbles, shells. It is now a memento mori. Keith visited Melbourne to work with us in 2014. We all met together in London in 2015 – we walked Carnaby Street in early December when the Christmas decorations

中文翻译：

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友谊的缺席

基思·泰斯特是我的朋友。早在我在现实生活中遇到他之前，他就成了我的朋友。基思是一位非凡的记者，正如本备忘录中的其他人也评论过的那样。2011 年，我通过我们共同的朋友 Peter Beilharz 开始了我与 Keith 的书信友谊。我现在不记得为什么彼得建议我们应该保持联系，但这对我来说是一个重要的时刻。基思在彼得的困难时期是他的红颜知己，他也成为了我的人。彼得和我坠入爱河。在我的其他朋友选择撤回友谊的时候，基思对我表现出异常的慷慨和开放。他们觉得我背叛了他们。我没有与基思分担我的损失，但我认为他明白我写给他的信，在那里我可以公开谈论我对彼得的友谊（和爱），是对我灵魂的一种安慰。我们讨论了我们正在阅读的书籍、我们看过的电影以及日常生活和世俗的方方面面。很多天我们就欧洲电视网进行了长时间的谈话，最初是一个笑话，但后来变成了关于成为欧洲人和英国人意味着什么的讨论。基思有一个关于“英国性”概念的长期项目。我们讨论了正确的倒茶方法——先牛奶，后茶，不要倒茶。他喜欢唐斯和它古老的石头教堂。基思还喜欢墨尔本的意大利咖啡馆，布鲁内蒂的。我经常拍下他们出名的奢侈和精心制作的蛋糕的照片，并将它们发送给他。他喜欢 Nick Cave，但我觉得他太伤感了，尽管我们一致认为 Kylie Minogue 的歌很棒。我终于在 2013 年在英国见到了基思。彼得和我去了沃辛，和他和他的家人住在一起。我们在一个刮风的晚上步行到沃辛码头。我有我们的照片，模糊不清，但现在很珍惜。我从沃辛海滩捡了一块白色的鹅卵石来纪念我们在一起的时光。它就在我们的书架上。我想要一个地方制作纪念品，多年来养成的习惯——棍棒、石头、鹅卵石、贝壳。它现在是一个纪念品。Keith 于 2014 年访问墨尔本与我们一起工作。我们于 2015 年在伦敦相识——我们在 12 月初圣诞装饰品的时候走过卡纳比街