Pooh Sticks Bridge
The rules of ‘Poohsticks’: Two or more competitors must drop their stick from the up-stream side of the bridge to […]
Big Love: Fleetwood Mac
I have a big love for Fleetwood Mac. It’s a band that seems quintessentially American, but was actually formed in […]
The Bayeux Tapestry: A Stitch in Time
The Bayeux Tapestry was not made in Bayeux, France and it is not a tapestry. It was made in Canterbury, […]
The Grass Arena: From Prison to Chess Genius
‘I used to make a move, and then I’d think about it. But now I think, and then I move.’ […]
The Man who Waved Goodbye
Come see me tonightIf loneliness allows, Point the headlights at me,Then come slowly,Wave goodbye to me, A jasmine handkerchief,An untouched […]
Breakfast with David Hockney
Painted from his little beach house home in Malibu, David Hockney names this wonderful painting simply ‘Breakfast at Malibu, Wednesday’. […]
Salman Rushdie’s: ‘Knife’
‘So my first thought when I saw this murderous shape rushing toward me was: So it’s you. Here you are.’ […]
In the Mountains of Poetry
I nearly titled this ‘Letter’ ‘An Englishman Abroad’ but instead I’ve taken the title from Peter Nasmyth’s wonderful account of […]
A Late Blossoming: Dennis Potter’s Final Interview
The great television dramatist Dennis Potter brought four things to sustain him through his last, hour long, interview. To me, […]
My Beautiful Laundrette
Listening to Hanif Kureishi on Bella Freud’s brilliant podcast ‘Fashion Neurosis’, I was reminded of how much I have enjoyed […]