User:MariaVendina/sandbox

= Greg Coonen = Gregory S. Coonen (March 1968) better known by his pen name Greg Coonen, is a Dutch novelist, journalist and entrepreneur. He is best known for his contemporary financial thriller with a twist of geopolitics, “The Fat Finger”. His books for children have been translated into five languages from their original English version.

Birth and family background
Greg Coonen was born in Paris in 1968. Greg is a Dutch national but considers himself profoundly European, as he was brought up in a house where everyone spoke English and French bilingually. Dutch, Russian and Spanish were also often spoken between siblings.

His Dutch father, originally from the southern town of Maastricht, and his American mother, who lived most of her childhood on the outskirts of Chicago met in Geneva, Switzerland, during her junior year abroad from Smith College. They opted to live in Paris, the city of their dreams.

Greg’s paternal grandfather, Theodore Coonen, owned a cigar factory in Houthem, Holland. It was destroyed in 1941 by the Germans when he refused to produce cigars for the Schutzstaffel (SS). He went into hiding for four years in neighbouring farms.

His maternal grandfather, Erwin A. Stuebner, was the President of Kidder, Peabody & Co from 1964 to 1983. He worked during his whole career for the bank. The excesses of the nineties when internal controls and supervision were lacking, caused the demise of Kidder Peabody. The fate of the bank so intimately connected to his family served as an inspiration for Greg to write “The Fat Finger”. He feels strongly that these governance problems still exist in many banks today and are creating tensions that could make the 2008 crisis look benign in comparison.

Education
As a child, Greg attended the Lycée International de Saint-Germain-en-Laye. These early years in such an international surrounding had a profound impact on how he sees the world today.

Greg graduated from the Lycée International de Saint-Germain-en-Laye in 1986, with a Baccalauréat specialized in Economics before going on to Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service (SFF).

In 1989 he studied his junior year abroad at the University of Seville, Spain.

Greg graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in International Economics from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service in 1990.

At Georgetown University Greg attended several of Madeleine Albright and José Sorzano’s lectures which kindled his interest in geopolitics.

A decade later, Greg obtained an MBA from Instituto de Empresa (IE), in Madrid in 2001.

Early Business Career
In between his two degrees Greg worked as an Account Manager at Luis Sanchez Merlo & Asociados in Madrid, responsible for the firm’s Boeing, LVMH, La FNAC and la Zagaleta accounts. From 1994 to 2012 he traveled to interview hundreds of presidents, ministers and CEOs. During those years, he lived in countries as diverse as Ireland, France, Egypt, Brazil, Mexico, Turkey, Russia, Tatarstan, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Spain and Korea.

Writing Career
Although Greg hugely enjoyed the diversity of a globetrotting lifestyle, it was witnessing his daughters’ reactions to the books he wrote for them which has turned out to be his most thrilling journey to date. Greg thus discovered his inner storyteller.

Over 30,000 copies of his children books have brought joy to children of the world. His latest children book, “Fedari Jolts into Action” was published in December 2019.

There was always an itch to spin a more complex tale, one founded in the worlds Greg had learned so much about during his professional life. This itch is now soundly scratched with the publication of his debut novel “The Fat Finger”, a financial thriller with a twist of real geopolitik.

The Fat Finger
The Fat Finger, published by Nine Elms Books for the UK market describes the adventures of star trader Ben Brennan, as his whole life and everyone he loves is placed at risk after a trade. Ben leaves a major trading position open over the same weekend a “black swan”, an unforeseeable event that hugely distorts financial markets, hits. Worse still, on that same trade, he has committed a “fat finger”, the accidental addition of an extra zero that multiplies everything by a factor of ten. The losses that result from The Fat Finger are apparently enough to bring down his bank. The thriller describes the unequal fight between Ben and the intelligence agencies that are out to get him and destabilise neighbouring Catalonia.

Philanthropy
The first of Greg’s children books, “Molly Visits Chloé in Andorra”, was offered in 2012 to all the children aged five to eight years old in the principality to foster greater interest in the English language.

Greg Coonen organized several book drives in Spain and Andorra.

In 2013 he organised the Books for Africa book drive and then planned, financed and oversaw the shipment of the 12 000 books collected to the 23 schools of the Ditunga project led by father Apollinaire Cikongo in the Kasai Oriental region in Congo (DRC).

Thanks to these books, the priest was able to secure founding for the construction of a library.

He is working on a book drive and educational project for Nepal.

Awards and honours
o   1990: Karl F. Landegger award, School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University

o   2014: was knighted Musketeer of la Compagnie des Mousquetaires d’Armagnac

List of works
Books for children

o   Chloé Visits Andorra, 2012

o   Molly and the Charlemagne Treasure, 2014

o   D’Artagnan in Maastricht: Molly and the Musketeer’s Treasure, 2015

o   Fedarri Jolts Into Action, 2020

Novels

o   The Fat Finger, January 2020, by Nine Elms Books (UK)