"I Painted My Life Myself"

Şükrü Ergün retired after entrusting his position to Serdar Puntar, who had been serving in Jotun since 1994 and later became the Sales Director responsible for the Energy, Infrastructure, and Dealer Customer groups of Jotun Eastern Europe and Central Asia. He settled into his home in Bodrum Gümüşlük with his wife Özlem.

With his ever-smiling face, Şükrü Ergün rose as a highly respected representative of Jotun, and during those years that remain in our dreams, he had invited members of the Board of Directors of the Chamber of Shipping on behalf of Jotun/Norway to Norway. I was also invited to this colorful and unforgettable journey as a maritime trade writer along with my wife. Each of the photographs I took during this trip tells valuable memories and friendships. Some of them are now far away.

In my article, I want to start with my favorite photo from our stop in Norway aboard the Costa Mediterranea, which belongs to Costa Crociere, featuring Şükrü Ergün and his beloved wife Özlem Ergün.

For a week, we gained unforgettable memories in the maritime country of Norway, a civilization in the North. We admired the Norwegians who loved living in houses built on tiny rocks in the fjords. We listened to the production at Jotun's factory and witnessed the advanced technology they implemented even in those years.

One of the moments I will never forget is the Black Sea jokes told by Halim Mete Bey to the Norwegians. Şükrü Ergün had translated them, and those very serious and charming Norwegians laughed heartily. Halim Mete, who could make even Norwegians laugh with his wit, is also a dear friend.

I first remember Şükrü Ergün from Cerrahoğulları. However, in later years, I always recall the firsts he and his friend Onur Koca achieved. Şükrü Ergün later became a name that brought Jotun, Norway's magnificent ship paint, to the Turkish shipbuilding industry.

Years went by... And the day came when Şükrü Ergün and his beloved wife Özlem retreated to their home in Bodrum. Their children had grown up, gotten married, and become established in their careers. Their grandchildren were also growing up.

At the beginning of this year, he called me. He had narrated his life story in a memoir titled "I Painted My Life" which was published by Ceres Publications. He sent me the memoir he had signed with his driver. I thank him very much.

He said, "Writing has become a must!" And he began to narrate; "After working for forty-five years, I retired this year. Let’s not say retired, let’s say I ended my work life. For some reason, the word 'retired' evokes old age for me. However, aging and becoming old are not the same thing. The law of nature necessitates aging. Since the alternative to aging is 'death,' we can say that aging is a good thing. Becoming old, in my opinion, is related to the brain, mental state, zest for life, curiosity, and environment. If you are exercising your brain, managing to keep your morale high, if there is no decrease in your zest for life and energy, if you are still curious about everything and want to learn different things, and most importantly, if you are in close contact with your friends, you are never old despite the wrinkles that naturally occur as a result of aging, the pains that arise on your right and left, your sagging muscles, and your bent back.

I informed my management team and close circle a year in advance that I would end my busy work life. Our company policy required this as well. Even if I am not aging, it seems that I have reached my chronological age limit, and it was time to hand over the management. This is a very natural and healthy process, especially a necessity for institutions. It is necessary to pave the way for the next generation, to prepare, educate, nurture them, and when the time comes, to metaphorically 'pass the baton.'

Since the announcement of my retirement, everyone started saying, "Write about your life and experiences." Even though I said, "Friends, I am not a famous person, who would be curious about my life?" the insistence did not cease.

After thinking a bit, I realized that those who advised me were right. My childhood, student years, and work life took place during the most dynamic periods of Turkey's recent history. I witnessed military coups during my childhood and student years, saw how the country's economy was devastated by politicians, and as a natural consequence, I sadly observed the moral collapse caused by the growing income inequality. In my 65 years of life spent under these conditions, I experienced countless experiences, learned lessons from my failures, took pride in my successes, learned a lot from my role models, and tried to guide the young friends I worked with to broaden their horizons. After so many years of continuous work, it would be very selfish to keep the accumulated experience and lessons to myself. In short, it became a must to write "something." I decided to write freely, without following a specific order, about the experiences I gained during my 45 years of working life, the sweet and bitter lessons I learned, and the conclusions I drew. I extend my endless thanks to all my friends who encouraged me to write this book; to my classmates, dear brothers Hamza Tığlay, Arsen Ceyhan, Volkan Karsan, my Galatasaray brothers Mehmet Karlı and Cenk Sabah Tuzcu, my cousin Assoc. Prof. Dr. Sinan Güler, especially to my dear Nurten Yalçın Erus, who patiently answered my questions, and my dear editor Sevim Erdoğan for their invaluable support."

The title "I Painted My Life" that Şükrü Ergün found for his life story is like deep humor and is a first in the entire world publishing concept. I have read this work three times. And I have repeatedly decided that this work is the "Şükrü Ergün Legend."

I wish that all young people could read this work... I would have liked this work to be published by an official institution of the Turkish Maritime Trade world.

Still, this work could be collectively purchased in certain numbers and gifted to students of Piri Reis University and other maritime schools.

To make this work more widely known, I want to write about Şükrü Ergün's memoir;

Şükrü Ergün refers to his childhood years as the "Age of Innocence" and narrates; "In the first grade, where I started knowing how to read and write, I found myself among the least successful students in class when I decided to hide my left-handedness and write with my right hand, perhaps to not be different from everyone else."

"I was born in 1958 in Aksaray Küçük Langa. My father was a chief inspector in the Police Department, and my mother was a police officer. I started elementary school in 1964 at Aksaray Deneme Elementary School, now known as Mahmudiye Primary School. In those years, most of the veterans of the War of Independence were middle-aged, so we benefited greatly from them regarding the last period of the Ottoman Empire, the War of Independence, the proclamation of the Republic, and its early years. Except for the first two years of elementary school, I was quite a successful student. In the first grade, where I started knowing how to read and write, I found myself among the least successful students in class when I decided to hide my left-handedness and write with my right hand, perhaps to not be different from everyone else. The incident came to light when my mother was invited for a meeting by the teacher. The first term had ended, and I had brought a report card with very few 'excellent' grades, mostly 'good' and 'average.' When I started writing with my left hand again and returned to normal, I began to understand that being different from everyone else was not such a bad thing. The third grade was the year I started to normalize. In the fourth and fifth grades, I had already begun to enjoy success."

In a subheading in his memoir, Şükrü Ergün wrote, "People look at what you wear!" and narrates; "My father, who was born in Rize in 1924, when he was four years old, could not resist my grandmother's insistence and moved the family to Istanbul, settling in Anadolu Kavağı. I got to know three of my aunts and two uncles, who were my father's siblings, being the seventh of nine siblings. My father studied at Beykoz Middle School and Kabataş High School and later attended the painting department of the Fine Arts Academy for a while. During the years of World War II, my father, who was troubled by unemployment, wrote a letter to President İsmet İnönü, introducing himself and stating that he had to support his family, and asked for help since he could not find a job. After a while, police officers came to our house and invited my father to the police station. When my father asked the police chief what his crime was, he received the answer, "You wrote a letter to the President," and he lost his temper, shouting, "There is no such crime." The commissioner, who managed to calm my father down, told him, "Of course, it is not a crime; you wanted a job, we are making you a police officer." Thus, my father had to join a profession that did not match his personality; indeed, my father's heart could only endure this character and job mismatch until he was 55 years old.

My father paid great attention to his clothing and always dressed very stylishly. Since I took my father as an example, I always paid attention to my clothing.

I have never forgotten the two pieces of advice given by the famous Greek shipowner Onassis to young people at the beginning of his career, which I read in a book about his life. Onassis told young people, "Always dress well, have one very good quality outfit instead of several mediocre ones, because people will judge you based on your appearance before they get to know you. Live in a good neighborhood, even if it is just one room, because people will evaluate you based on the neighborhood you live in before they get to know you."

Once, when I visited the office of one of Greece's major shipowners, Dion Vlahos, for a business meeting, he invited me to lunch. After leaving his magnificent office, we got into an old model Peugeot 504 that he drove. No matter how I looked at the car, he said, "Şükrü, I am Dion Vlahos; if I drive this car, people will call me an eccentric, but if you drive it, they will say you are poor. You will dress well and drive good cars until you earn some money and become known." And I did just that. I always gave the same advice to the young people I worked with. I paid close attention to the clothes of the promising young people in my management team, took them shopping, used my connections to help them buy quality watches on installment, gifted them watches, and paid special attention to ensure that the company cars they would use were very safe, solid, and liked. Because these young people represented the company wherever they went, and it was very important for me that they felt confident and were not inferior to anyone, especially customers.

My mother, Sevim, who was born in Istanbul, grew up in Samatya, which she always loved and referred to as "Little Paris." She is the last surviving sibling of five, three girls and two boys. After graduating from the boarding Çamlıca Girls' High School, she left the Law Faculty in her second year and switched to the Geography Department of the Faculty of Arts. While studying at the university, she started working as a "Transaction Officer" at the Istanbul Police Department upon my grandfather's advice, managing to study and work at the same time.

Şükrü Ergün says, "I had a full childhood," and continues; "..Galatasaray High School holds a very important place in shaping my life. I was about four or five years old when I learned that the tiny island I saw while taking the ferry from Kuruçeşme to Kavak on weekends was Galatasaray Island, and I finally became a Galatasaray fan.

..One summer day, I entered through the magnificent gate of Galatasaray High School with my dear brother Hamza Tığlay, with whom I attended elementary school in the same class, and we registered one after the other. From that day on, since our school numbers would be sequential, just like our names, we studied in the same class until I chose the Literature section while he chose the Science section. I have never regretted choosing Literature. I had a lot of fun that year. Since French, Physics, and Mathematics were my favorite subjects, I paid special attention and learned them very well. So much so that when Özlem, who would later become my wife, started in the Engineering Faculty at Boğaziçi University, I tutored her in Mathematics and Physics in the first year.

..It has been forty-seven years since I graduated from Galatasaray High School. Since we started school in 1969, I have been reminiscing about the same memories with my friends, who have been with me for forty-seven years, without getting bored, and we laugh with the same enthusiasm."

Şükrü Ergün sees an advertisement. The ad states that AFS (American Field Service) will conduct written and oral exams to select students who will study the last year of high school in America with a scholarship, and it explains how those who want to participate should apply. He narrates; "Among those who took the AFS exam, I and Suna Üst and Zümrüt Atlamaz from a lower class at Galatasaray were successful. After the results were announced, routine family visits were made. In mid-May, we were going to a coastal town called Marshfield, 35 miles south of Boston, the capital of Massachusetts in the New England region. I spent that summer dreaming excitedly about going to the unknown, especially without knowing English. On August 18, we were gathered at Caddebostan Girls' Camp. This two-day orientation camp was organized to inform us about the culture, daily life, and traditions of the country we were going to, and it also served to help those going that year get to know each other. After the registrations were done and we were placed in our accommodations, everyone was told to choose a friend and get acquainted. After the introduction phase, everyone was to introduce their chosen friend to the group. Suddenly, the place became chaotic; I stepped aside and started watching what was happening; those darting to the right and left, those invited by someone else just as they approached someone, the indecisive ones, and those following a certain person created a very enjoyable scene. While I was watching, I suddenly realized that everyone had found a friend and started talking. In one corner of the garden, a girl was standing alone like me. I had to approach her and said, "I guess we are the only two left." She replied, "It seems so." We began to introduce ourselves; her name was Özlem, she was from Izmir, and she had been selected from the İzmir Private American Girls' College. She was also a folklorist like me and was going to Arkansas in the southern states of America. Her mother was a pharmacist, her father was an engineer, and she had a little sister. They lived in Ödemiş, and she was also a boarding student. Özlem impressed me with her smiling eyes, high energy, bright intelligence, and sense of humor. Of course, I didn’t leave her alone for two days; I managed to sit next to her on the plane. We talked without sleeping from Istanbul to America. By the time we landed, we were already holding hands. We were hosted for two days at CW Post College in Long Island, near New York.

Şükrü Ergün also studied in Paris and was accepted to Boğaziçi University because he returned with a very good GPA. Since he went to America in his second year of high school, when Şükrü Ergün started university, Özlem, who completed her high school in Turkey, also scored very well on the university entrance exam and won a place in the Engineering Faculty at Boğaziçi University. He narrates; "School started in September, and somehow I found a place for myself in the dormitory. Old AFS students, who would later become my business partner, Onur Koca, and my dear brother Esen Kural, opened a place for me by adding a third floor to the bunk bed in the dormitory. Özlem was also staying in the dormitory. While everything was going perfectly, in February, my father passed away from a heart attack, and my world collapsed. I got through that period with the support of my friends, especially Özlem. During those nightmare days, thanks to my senior from Galatasaray, my classmate at Boğaziçi, Levent Erden, I got a job at the US Consulate and worked as a student assistant and gave private lessons.

Şükrü Ergün also has university years in Oslo; thanks to Nuri Cerrahoğlu, who provided scholarships for them to receive training in shipping management in Norway, Şükrü Ergün attended a one-year training program called "Det Norske Shipping Akademiet," which was funded by the Norwegian government and only accepted candidates with certain industry experience. He says, "The owner of the Cerrahoğulları company that provided us with scholarships, the late Nuri Cerrahoğlu, managed to get us accepted into the school. Receiving education in a completely foreign subject required working hard to keep up with other students who knew the subject and reading books related to the topic outside of school. Additionally, we were interning at Fearnleys and Eager, the world's largest chartering and brokerage company, which Nuri Cerrahoğlu had arranged for us after school. It was a good opportunity to learn the practical side of the job that other students knew.

..After a fun and very productive year in Norway, we returned to Turkey. Tayfun Çöğendez became a shipowner, Ahmet Korman held senior positions in the maritime sector, and now he is consulting. I became a painter.

In a subheading in his memoir, "A Lifetime with Özlem"...

He narrates; "I had mentioned Özlem to my grandmother as well. One day my grandmother came to my room, took out some money from her bosom, and said, 'When schools open, go buy your rings with this money, don’t let this girl get away.'"

I believe that life is shaped by the choices made. The friends you choose, your profession, your spouse, your school, etc., determine your success in life. While the right choices bring success and happiness, the cost of wrong choices is heavy. I believe that the most important choice in life is choosing a spouse. Those who find the

Source: SeaNews Türkiye