Tennyson seems to be the patron saint of the wishy washies, which is perhaps why I admire him so much, not only as a poet, but as a man.

She was a patron saint of the peripheral.

I want to be like the patron saint of reality.

William Bennett is my patron saint, one of them. Redd Foxx is another.

If you imagine writing 1,000 words a day, which most journalists do, that would be a very long book a year. I don't manage nearly that... but I have published slightly too much recently.

Fear of death has never played a large part in my consciousness - perhaps unimaginative of me.