Columnist and etiquette expert Beatrijs Ritsema died on Thursday at the age of 69. That reports the newspaper Fidelity, for which she worked for twenty years. Ritsema had been treated for cancer for some time.
Ritsema took care of the popular section in the newspaper for two decades Modern Ways, in which she humorously addressed questions of social intercourse. The last regular contribution of the column appeared in last Saturday’s newspaper. The newspaper will publish the very last episode, which the columnist completed just before her death, “one of these days”.
Editor-in-chief Cees van der Laan calls Ritsema “of great significance” for Fidelity and its readers. “She was very popular, also for her sometimes very special, contradictory advice.” According to him, readers often let it be known that Ritsema’s advice led to discussions over breakfast on Saturday mornings.
“Her advice made you think and find solutions,” writes the editor-in-chief. “Her advice reflected the spirit of the times. With Beatrice we lose a beloved employee, but also a special, honest and pleasant person.”
Ritsema studied psychology at Leiden University. She wrote her first texts for the magazine in the eighties Personal Care She then served as editor-in-chief for many years Free Netherlands. She came up with the idea Modern Ways when she lived in Washington for a while and the column Miss Manners of the American journalist Judith Martin.
Ritsema also wrote several books on etiquette and social behavior.
