It did not matter that he had once forced some of the greatest coups in the London Stock Market, history had not been kind to Christopher MacKenzie. On the day that he was to die he finally understood the extent of his unpopularity. Even those who had not had dealings with Mr. No, as he came to be known, were angry about the mention of his name; it was a frequent occurence in the 1970’s and 1980’s that people of all statures gathered in public houses to drink, smoke tobacco, and curse MacKenzie’s influence. There were some who had lost out financially because of his wheeler-dealering; others were subject to his aggressive management style; then there were the rare few who had to try and complete business transactions with him - an extremely disheartening experience. His third wife had left him shortly after this period and for the last 14 years he had been utterly alone. MacKenzie had no children.
Bereft of meaningful conversation and willing company MacKenzie had began to woo media suitors; he completed a short spell with a lunchtime television programme advising investors and after he had been released from his contract spent a matter of months providing tips for a redtop paper. Unfortunately when one has lost all of one’s friends and contacts it is difficult to observe a somewhat secretive financial market satisfactorily. Indeed MacKenzie’s tips were so hopelessly inaccurate that one editor publically denounced him as utterly ‘useless.’ Strange that this public announcement should be broadcast on the 10th anniversary of the sale of one of his businesses for several million pounds, a once impressive figure. But time moves on and some achievements are forgotten or, in MacKenzie’s case, reevaluated.
Perhaps the nadir of his decline was epitomised by the embarrassing withdrawal of an autobiography planned for release in 2003; the publisher who had decided to run several copies which were to be sold at a reduced price because precisely 0 had been registered in the sales charts. Indeed one London stockist reported that the general public had regularly spat at the cover of the book. The offending picture? Surely not the picture of MacKenzie in a familiar aggressive pose.
Neighbours to MacKenzie’s £ 100, 000, 000 mansion commented: “He was known by all as a complete f***ing c***.” A comment that his last wife endorsed.
MacKenzie was found dead on Monday, apparently engaged in a compromisingly and downright embarrassing sex act with a houseplant. Dirty fucker. |
