First Chapter Of The Best Water Skier In Luxembourg

Help me fund my book about big fish in small ponds one chapter at a time.

What am I planning for chapter one?

The Best Water Skier In Luxembourg - Tales Of Big Fish In Small Ponds will recount my encounters with those who dedicate their lives to the pursuit of excellence in small worlds.

As a first step I am asking for your help to research and write the first chapter, to find the best water skier in Luxembourg.

The internet doesn’t reveal who he/she is, but there are a few water skiing clubs in the country and in 1961 16 year old Sylvie Hülsemann won the world water skiing championship under controversial circumstances. As well as finding today’s best water skier I will attempt to track Sylvie down and hear her story directly.

Once Mission Luxembourg has been funded and completed, my aim is to fund the following expeditions to find:

• – The Icelandic special forces


• – The top bassoonist in Finland


• – The most popular heavy metal band in Botswana


• – The most powerful politician on St Helena


• – The greatest living Surinamese novelist


• – Malta’s favourite soft drink


• – The greatest living expert on Cornish

How you can help

This is not a solitary quest and I will need all the help I can get.

First, I need to know more about water skiing, Luxembourg and water skiing in Luxembourg. Can you offer me advice? Could you introduce me to people? Do you already know the best water skier in Luxembourg? Could you donate incentives? I’d love to hear from you.

Second – and most importantly - I need to raise £2,000 to cover the research trip, writing and design of Chapter 1 (which will be 8 – 10,000 words long). The list of rewards listed opposite show you exactly what you get for pledging. Everyone who supports a chapter will get a discount on the finished book when all eight chapters are complete.

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I am a 39 year-old sociologist with a modest reputation. Throughout my life I have yearned to be the best at something. But I am not a genius and so I’ve adjusted my ambitions. When people ask me what I do, I offer the answer (tongue firmly in cheek) that 'I am the best water skier in Luxembourg'. In fact, I’ve never been to the Grand Duchy or been towed behind a boat. I’m an academic and my two areas of expertise are heavy metal and the Anglo-Jewish community.

I want to make this journey to uncover what Brian Eno calls 'scenius',– the creativity that is unleashed within groups. I am in awe of the single-minded commitment that members of small or obscure communities often demonstrate (and I imagine the water skiers of Luxembourg are about as obscure as they come…).

Follow @KeithKahnHarris