Heleen Mees’s New Leaf

It’s really unsettling when the media on both sides of the Atlantic tear apart someone’s personal life and put an otherwise unsightly blot on her thriving career. Heleen Mees, a 40-something Dutch economist, was accused by Citigroup’s chief economist, 60-something Willem Buiter, of stalking him. Before the whole ordeal, she made a name for herself in the Dutch feminist world. It’s hard to look back on that work with all of the weird quirks in current stalking story. I guess the whole altercation makes for entertaining articles and dinner conversation. (Like: What is so attractive about Willem Buiter?)

At the end of October, attorneys asked Mees to accept a plea bargain where she could avoid criminal charges. But she and her lawyer have declined. The matter will be officially taken back up in January, while Mees’s decision had to have been made by November 22nd.

In between then and now, Mees ran the New York City Marathon. One journalist was concerned with whether or not she would be able to run it.

Uitspraak Mees pas 9 januari, dus de New York-marathon kan ze met gemak lopen.

— Herman Stam (@HermanStam) October 24, 2013

And run it, she did:

I just finished the ING NYC marathon in 4:10:48. Many thanks to ING and all the people along the marathon trail.

— Heleen Mees (@HeleenMees) November 3, 2013

I can’t help but think this lawsuit could do anything except boost Heleen Mees’s popularity. Maybe not in the economics world, but perhaps in the mainstream, like those Freakonomics writers.